cmyk
THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIA
WEATHER
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Rainfall: Nill
ASTROGUIDE
Pilava: Masi 2
Tithi: Thrayodhasi
Star: Punarpusam
Rahukalam:
7.30 am to 9 am
Yamagandam:
10.30 am to 12 noon
PRAYERS
Fajar: 5.22 am
Luhar: 12.28 am
Asar: 3.43 pm
Maghrib: 6.12 pm
Isha: 7.25 pm
Night curfew lifted in JK,
classes from Monday
Srinagar: The Jammu and
Kashmir state executive com-
mittee on Sunday announced
the lifting of the night curfew
after almost six months and
opening of educational institu-
tions in a phased manner
beginning Monday amid a
decline in COVID-19 cases.
The SEC also attendance at
indoor gatherings to 50 per
cent of the authorised capacity
against the previous 25 per
cent, while cinema halls, the-
atres, restaurants, clubs, gym-
nasiums and swimming pools
were permitted to function at
25 per cent of the authorized
capacity with due precautions.
Drugs worth `60 cr
seized at Mumbai airport
Mumbai: The Customs Air
Intelligence unit at Mumbai's
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj
International Airport has recov-
ered drugs worth approximate-
ly Rs 60 crore from a
Zimbabwean passenger on
Saturday. The drugs were con-
cealed inside the trolley bag
and two file folders, said the
officials.
Bomb blast in Kerala’s
Kannur kills one
Kannur: One person was killed
and two others injured in a
bomb blast in Kannur district
of Kerala on Sunday afternoon.
According to the police, the
deceased and the injured were
part of the same group and
were planning to attack anoth-
er group with the bomb over
some dispute which occurred a
day ago.
Over 70% children
administered first dose of
Covid vax: Mandaviya
New Delhi: Over 70 per cent of
India’s adolescents in the 15-18
age group have received the
first dose of COVID-19 vaccine
so far, Union Health Minister
Mansukh Mandaviya said on
Sunday. He also appealed to all
those in this age group who
are eligible for vaccination to
get inoculated at the earliest.
COUNTER POINT
Livingstone topper; Raina unsold
C. SANTHOSH KUMAR | DC
CHENNAI, FEB. 13
A whopping `551.7 crore
was spent on 204 players as
franchises jostled over two
days at the mega auction in
Bengaluru to put together
key pieces of their IPL jig-
saw. The scintillating pro-
ceedings which made many
a millionaire out of small-
town cricketers concluded
on Sunday with a fitting cli-
max when auctioneer Hugh
Edmeades, who had fainted
on stage the previous day,
returned to anchor the final
leg of the event.
While wicket-keeper bats-
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Lanka arrests 12 fishermen;
Stalin asks PM to intervene
■ ‘Third incident in 2 weeks; 41 fishermen in custody’
DC CORRESPONDENT
WITH AGENCY INPUTS
CHENNAI, FEB. 13
The arrest of 12 fishermen
from Tamil Nadu in seas
north of Talaimannar by
Sri Lanka in the early
hours of Sunday prompted
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin
to shoot of a letter to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
demanding an early meet-
ing with the neighbouring
country to find a solution
to the long drawn issue.
The Chief Minister point-
ed out in the letter that a
total of 41 fishermen along
with their boats are in the
Sri Lankan custody and
the government should
take steps to get them
released.
“Such incidents are hap-
pening with alarming reg-
ularity, causing deep dis-
tress to the people of Tamil
Nadu," the Chief Minister
said in the letter.
The fishermen had ven-
tured out for fishing from
Rameswaram base in two
mechanised fishing boats.
They were arrested by the
Sri Lankan Navy in the
early hours of February 13
and taken to
Thalaimannar. Sri
Lankan officials con-
firmed the incident.
K’taka schools till
10 to open today
Hubballi (K’taka), Feb.
13: A day ahead of high
schools across the state up
to class 10 that were shut
in the wake of the Hijab
row, reopening,
Karnataka Chief Minister
Basavaraj Bommai on
Sunday expressed confi-
dence that peace and nor-
malcy will prevail.
He also said that a deci-
sion regarding reopening
of pre-university and
degree colleges will be
taken after assessing the
situation.
“High schools up to class
10 will reopen tomorrow.
Deputy commissioner,
superintendent of police
and deputy director of
public instruction of all
districts have already
been asked to hold peace
meetings involving par-
ents and teachers at
important schools aimed
SBI claims no delay in filing case
against ABG Shipyard for fraud
New Delhi, Feb. 13:
Amid allegations of delay
in filing of complaint
against the country’s
biggest bank fraud total-
ing `22,842 crore, State
Bank of India (SBI) on
Sunday said it has been
diligently following the
ABG Shipyard fraud case
with the CBI following the
Liam Livingstone Suresh Raina
man Ishan Kishan emerged
the most expensive Indian
of the 2022 auction on
Saturday, Liam Livingstone
became the most expensive
foreigner. Punjab Kings
snapped up the England all-
rounder for `11.5 crore.
COIMBATORE I MONDAY 14 I FEBRUARY 2022
FINANCE CHRONICLE | 10
Govt to sell 5% stake in LIC;
embedded value at `5.4 L cr
This is the third such
incident in two weeks and
41 fishermen and six fish-
ing boats are in the cus-
tody of the Sri Lankan
Navy, Mr Stalin told the
Prime Minister. “Such
arrests and harassment
have caused a sense of
insecurity in the fisher-
men community of Tamil
Nadu, particularly in the
Palk Bay area and have
adversely affected their
livelihoods,” Mr Stalin
said. “It is extremely vital
to find a lasting solution to
this vexatious and long-
pending issue through the
collaborative efforts of the
at maintaining cordial
atmosphere. I’m confident
that schools will function
peacefully,” Mr Bommai
said.
Speaking to reporters
here, he said that he has
asked education minis-
ters to submit a report
after examining the situa-
tion regarding reopening
of pre-university and
degree colleges, based on
the assessment a meeting
will be held and a decision
will be taken.
The government on
Friday had said that holi-
day announced to univer-
sities belonging to the
department of higher edu-
cation and colleges under
the department of colle-
giate and technical educa-
tion (DCTE), in the wake
of the Hijab row, has been
extended till February 16.
— PTI
forensic audit report.
The Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) recent-
ly booked ABG Shipyard
Limited, its former chair-
man and managing direc-
tor Rishi Kamlesh
Agarwal and others for
allegedly cheating a con-
sortium of two dozen
lenders led by ICICI Bank.
Tearaway speedster Jofra
Archer who will miss this
season owing to an injury
was picked by Mumbai
Indians for `8 crore.
Mumbai owner Akash
Ambani said Archer will
make a formidable pace
SLIPPERY SLOPE
AIADMK POUNCES ON STALIN
FOR WADING INTO WB ROW
CM Stalin may have slipped in taking up
West Bengal assembly issue on Twitter
without checking Governor Dhankhar
having prorogued Assembly on Govt
request. Political rivals are questioning
why he has not taken down the tweet
despite the WB Governor clarifying
■ FULL STORY ON PG2
Union and state govern-
ments.”
As a preliminary step,
consultations may be initi-
ated to convene bilateral
talks, he urged. “As the
Covid situation has eased,
I request you to press for
the resumption of deliber-
ations through the joint
working group (JWG)
meeting immediately."
“Further, talks between
the fishermen of the two
countries may also be
facilitated to ease the ten-
sion in the area. I also urge
you to take immediate
steps to expedite the
release of 41 fishermen
BANGLA CATTLE
SMUGGLER KILLED
IN BSF FIRING
Guwahati, Feb. 13: One
Bangladeshi cattle smug-
gler was killed in a firing
incident that took place at
the Kukurmara area in
Assam’s South Salmara
Mankachar district along
the India-Bangladesh bor-
der on Sunday morning,
informed Border Security
Force (BSF) official.
The BSF official said that
the incident occurred while
smugglers had tried to
transport cows from the
Indian side to Bangladesh
by pulling the cows over
the tall barbed-wire fence.
The BSF personnel
deployed along the interna-
tional border tried to stop
the illegal activities. But
the smuggler group tried to
overpower the BSF person-
nel. “One smuggler from
Bangladesh side was killed
in BSF firing on the spot
and the security personnel
recovered three cows.
ABG Shipyard fraud is
much higher than the one
perpetrated by Nirav
Modi and his uncle Mehul
Choksi, who allegedly
cheated the Punjab
National Bank (PNB) of
around Rs 14,000 crore
through issuance of fraud-
ulent letters of undertak-
ing (LoUs). ■ P10
pair with Jasprit Bumrah.
“Jofra is not available this
year but we believe in the
best of him and when he is
fit and available I believe
that with Bumrah he will
make a formidable partner-
ship,” he added.
The auction, however,
proved to be a disappoint-
ment for a few. Suresh
Raina, known as ‘Mr. IPL’
for having played a key role
in Chennai Super Kings’
success over the years,
found no takers, as did
Aussie cricketer Steve
Smith and England’s World
Cup-winning captain Eoin
Morgan.
from Tamil Nadu,” Mr
Stalin said in the letter.
Meanwhile the Sri
Lankan officials said the
Sri Lankan Navy arrested
the Indian fishermen and
seized two fishing trawlers
for allegedly poaching in
the country’s territorial
waters.
The Navy said the fisher-
men were indulging in in
bottom trawling, the Navy
said.
The Palk Strait, which is
a narrow strip of water
separating Tamil Nadu
from Sri Lanka, is a rich
fishing ground for fisher-
men from both countries.
55 seats in 9 west UP districts to vote
in Phase 2 today; 4 ministers in fray
Modi says ‘dynasts sleepless’; Akhilesh claims ‘BJP wipe out has begun’
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, FEB. 13
Moving with a strong secu-
rity pitch, the BJP is all set
to wade into the second
phase of polling in Uttar
Pradesh on Monday.
Leading the attack on the
Opposition parties, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
said that after the first
round of voting in Uttar
Pradesh, “their dynasts
are sleepless and unable to
dream any more”. He
added that the BJP govern- Polling officials collect election materials at a distribu-
ment has the antidote for tion centre on the eve of second phase of Uttar Pradesh
rioters and the mafia. The Assembly elections in Moradabad on Sunday.
voting on February 14 is
for 55 Assembly seats span- Assembly election the SP that the farmers’ protests
ning the nine districts of got 27 seats. It was then in against the three repealed
Amroha, Bareilly, Bijnor, an alliance with the farm laws will find reso-
Badaun, Moradabad, Congress.
Rampur, Saharanpur,
Sambhal and chief, Akhilesh Yadav, Adityanath Cabinet —
Shahjahanpur in western claimed that the “wipe out Mahesh Chandra Gupta,
Uttar Pradesh. This is tra- of the BJP has already Gulab
ditionally a region where begun” after the first Khanna and Baldev Singh
the Samajwadi Party has phase of voting. The SP- Aulakh — will test their
done well. In the last RLD combine is hoping luck this time. Senior SP
Covid cases fall below 50K
after nearly two months
Delhi’s positivity rate is at 1.5%
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, FEB. 13
As many as 44,877 Covid-19
cases and 684 related
deaths were reported in the
country in the past 24
hours. This is the first time
in nearly one and a half
months that the daily
Covid-19 count has dropped
below the 50,000-mark. In
Delhi, 804 fresh Covid-19
cases and 12 deaths were
reported in the last 24
hours. The positivity rate
in the city has gone down
further to 1.5 per cent. The
city’s total active case-
load is 3,926.
The number of daily
cases in Delhi has been on
the decline after touching a
record high of 28,867 on
January 13. The city had
recorded a positivity rate
of 30.6 per cent on January
SPORT | 12
Afridi ends Valentine’s Day is a
PSL career celebration of love
Vol. 12 No. 48 Established 1938
SOME AIRLINES
HALT SERVICE TO
UKRAINE AFTER
US-RUSSIA TALKS
Moscow, Feb. 13: Some air-
lines have cancelled or
diverted flights to Ukraine
amid heightened fears that
an invasion by Russia is
imminent despite intensive
weekend talks between the
Kremlin and the West.
In an hourlong Saturday
call with Russian President
Vladimir Putin, President
Joe Biden said invading
Ukraine would cause wide-
spread human suffering and
that the West was committed
to diplomacy to end the cri-
sis but equally prepared for
other scenarios, the White
House said. It offered no sug-
gestion that the call dimin-
ished the threat of an immi-
nent war in Europe.
Dutch airline KLM has
cancelled flights to Ukraine
until further notice, the com-
pany said Saturday.
Dutch sensitivity to poten-
tial danger in Ukrainian air-
space is high in the wake of
the 2014 shooting down of a
Malaysian airliner over an
area of eastern Ukraine held
by Russia-backed rebels. All
298 people aboard died,
including 198 Dutch citizens.
The Ukrainian charter air-
line SkyUp said Sunday that
its flight from Madeira,
Portugal, to Kyiv was divert-
ed to the Moldovan capital
Chisinau after the plane's
Irish lessor said it was ban-
ning flights in Ukrainian air-
space.
nance in these districts.
A buoyant Samajwadi Four ministers in the Yogi
◗ THE TOTAL number of
Covid-19 cases and
related deaths reported
so far in the country
stands at 4,26,31,421
and 5,08,665 respective-
ly
14, the highest during the
third wave of the Covid-19
pandemic. It took just 10
days for the daily cases to
drop below the 10,000-
mark.
Of the 3,502 fresh infec-
tions reported in
Maharashtra, 288 were
from Mumbai. The state
has also reported 17 new
Covid-19 related deaths in
the last 24 hours.
Currently, the country’s
active caseload stands at
5,37,045, which accounts for
1.26 per cent of total cases.
The daily positivity rate in
TABLOID
U’khand, Goa go
to booths today
ASHHAR KHAN | DC
NEW DELHI, FEB. 13
Taking on the incumbent
BJP, the Congress is all
set to fight it out in a very
close contest in the poll-
bound states
Uttarakhand and Goa
of
which will vote in a single
phase on Monday. In the
Uttar Pradesh, voters in
55 assembly constituen-
cies in nine districts,
including some in
Rohilkhand region, will
also go to polls in the sec-
ond phase of elections.
The high-octane cam-
paigns in Goa and
Uttarakhand have poised
the match evenly even as
regional parties are try-
ing to make inroads in
these states that have tra-
ditionally been ruled by
the two parties. The
Trinamul Congress and
the Aam Aadmi Party had
an aggressive campaign
strategy in Goa. The TMC
in Goa managed to pull
several candidates from
other parties to itself
while the AAP is on the
poll plank of a corruption-
free government. In
Uttarakhand, the AAP has
been campaigning for the
past few months and has
attracted leaders from
other parties too.
AAP chief ministerial
candidate Ajay Kothiyal
is contesting from
— PTI
Devi,
Suresh
India has been recorded at
3.17 per cent, and the week-
ly positivity rate at 4.46 per
cent.
The total number of
Covid-19 cases and related
deaths reported so far in
the country stands at
4,26,31,421 and 5,08,665
respectively. As many
as 1,17,591 patients have
recovered in the last 24
hours and the cumulative
tally of recovered patients
since the beginning of the
Covid-19 pandemic is now
at 4,15,85,711.
Consequently, India’s
recovery rate stands at
97.55 per cent.
The country’s Covid-19
vaccination coverage
crossed 172.29 crores with
the administration of over
46.82 lakh doses during the
past 24 hours. A total of
75.07 crore tests have been
conducted so far in India,
with 14,15,279 tests done in
the last 24 hours.
cmyk
| 20 PAGES| `4.00
ONLY BJP ALLIANCE
CAN SAVE PUNJAB
FROM DRUGS: SHAH
Ludhiana, Feb.
Union home minister
13:
Amit Shah on Sunday
said only the BJP-led
alliance can secure
Punjab and uproot drugs
from the state, even as he
made a sharp attack
against Chief Minister
Charanjit Singh Channi
and AAP leader Arvind
Kejriwal.
Mr Shah, in his first
public rally for the Feb-
ruary 20 state assembly
polls, hit out at the Cong-
ress over the 1984 anti-
Sikh riots and accused
Congress leaders of being
involved in killing of
Sikhs in Delhi.
Gangotri.
The 70-member
Assembly in Uttarakhand
has seen a liberal inter-
change of leaders between
the Congress and the BJP.
BJP ministers Harak
Singh Rawat and his fami-
ly and Yashpal Arya and
his son are now in the
Congress. The Congress’
former state unit chief
Kishore Upadhyay and
Mahila Congress state
chief Sarita Arya are now
in the BJP. ■ P5
leader Azam Khan, who is
now in jail, is contesting
from Rampur.
The Congress has fielded
Nawab Kazim Ali Khan
against Azam Khan.
Supriya Aaron of the
Samajwadi Party from
Bareilly Cantonment,
Keerat Singh Gurjar from
Gangoh and BJP’s
Devendra Nagpal from
Naugawan seat are in the
fray.
Muslim voters have a
decisive say in 25 seats
while dalit voters hold the
key to some 20-odd
Assembly seats in this
phase. Saharanpur,
Moradabad, Sambhal,
Bijnor and Rampur are
Muslim strongholds while
nine constituencies are
reserved for the Scheduled
Castes. The SP-RLD is
banking considerably on
the consolidation
Muslim and dalit votes,
embellished with Jat and
Yadav votes.
of
Protesters held
at US-Canada
bridge in bid to
end blockade
Windsor (Ontario), Feb.
13: The police moved in to
clear and arrest the
remaining protesters near
the busiest US-Canadian
border crossing
Sunday, trying to end a
demonstration
on
against
Covid-19 restrictions that
has hurt the economy of
both nations even as they
held back from a crack-
down on a larger protest in
the capital, Ottawa.
Local and national police
formed a joint command
centre in Ottawa, where
protests have paralysed
downtown, infuriated resi-
dents who are fed up with
police inaction and turned
up pressure on Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau.
The protests have rever-
berated across the country
and beyond, with similar
convoys in France, New
Zealand and the
Netherlands.
 CITY
DECCAN CHRONICLE | MONDAY | 14 FEBRUARY 2022 | COIMBATORE
SHORT
Upgraded
TAKES
smartphone
Chennai, Feb. 13: Vivo Y75 5G
comes with an upgrade for the
series with design improve-
ment and a 16.71cm (6.58-inch)
FHD+ in-cell display for an
immersive viewing experience.
An incredibly slim feel of an
8.25 mm body along with 2.5D
flat frame and its light weight
and premium appearance make
it a potential leader in its seg-
ment at a price band just under
Rs 22k. Its 128 GB ROM and
FunTouch OS 12 offer a good
digital experience, best of gam-
ing with eye protection mode
and photography experience. It
is a NextGen smartphone with
best-in-class features featuring
a modern-day compact form fac-
tor and a nice profile in the
palm.
5G
Sporting a 5000mAh battery
with 18W fast charge technolo-
gy, the Y75 5G comes with a 7nm
chip- the octa-core1
Dimensity 700 - that runs at a
clock rate as high as 2.2 GHz.
The extended RAM of 8GB +
4GB ensures switching smooth-
ly between apps. Multi Turbo
5.0 enhances data connection,
system processor speed, and
power-saving performance to a
new level even after prolonged
usage. The updated Ultra Game
Mode 2.0 offers a fuller sensory
and enhanced gaming experi-
ence.
The phone brings high-defini-
tion photography integrated
with its rear camera system’s
50MP primary sensor, 2MP
super macro camera, eye auto-
focus and 2MP bokeh camera
for ultra-sharp images in bright
and dark conditions and even
when objects are in motion. A
16MP AI extreme night selfie
camera with AI beautification
and upgraded AI extreme night
algorithm take night selfies to
the next level. A personalised
portrait mode and super HDR
enhance photography experi-
ence.
Makkal Sakthi
Iyakkam urges
100% polling
DC CORRESPONDENT
TIRUCHY, FEB 13
Some members of the Makkal
Sakthi Iyakkam, led by state
treasurer K.C. Neelamegam,
distributed pamphlets in every
household in and around
Golden Rock area of Tiruchy
on Sunday insisting on cent
percent polling in the
February 19 urban local body
election.
Makkal Sakthi Iyakkam vol-
unteers including S. Eswaran,
Logesh, N. Dayananth,
Venkatesh, Elango, and
Naresh distributed the pam-
phlets to create an awareness
among voters, a release said.
Learning to live with divisions in polarised world
R. Mohan
Namma Chennai diary
I
t is a deeply polarised world
that we are living in cur-
rently and from here it can
only get more divided.
Learning to live with divisions
is going to be challenging.
Blame it on Trump, Biden,
Putin, Xi or anyone closer
home like Yogi Adityanth but
the fact is there is no escaping
a compromise with life in a
fractured world. The hijab
question is a manifestation of
the divisions that are cropping
up in one form or the other in
every facet of life.
For every action there is an
equal and opposite reaction,
according to science. The dan-
ger signs are clear if that law is
seen to govern life in society
too. It matters little whether
the government or ruler is left,
liberal, conservative, right or
authoritarian. Even the woke
darlings of the world who cap-
tivated their people with their
demonstrations of empathy
like Justin Trudeau and
Jacinda Ardern are facing
what polarisation can bring to
their societies.
Data has it that less than half
the world is democratic but in
that part of the world divisions
are given free rein as they
occur in open societies with a
`1,000 assistance for women
will be fulfilled soon, says CM
Chennai, Feb 13: DMK
President and Chief Minis-
ter M K Stalin on Sunday
asserted that the assurance
of `1,000 per month
‘Women Right Assistance’
to women heads of families
made in the run up to the
2021 Assembly election
would also be fulfilled soon.
In his ‘Let our governance
blossom in local bodies too’
virtual election address
that was telecast live in sev-
eral locations in Dindigul
District, Stalin listed sever-
al projects implemented for
this region during the DMK
regime.Urban civic polls
are scheduled to be held in
Tamil Nadu on February
19.
Hitting out at the previ-
ous AIADMK regime for
heavy borrowings causing
`5 lakh crore debt burden
for Tamil Nadu and for
passing on an ‘empty’ cof-
fer to his party-led regime,
the Chief Minister said
efforts were on to facilitate
a turnaround.By facilitat-
ing recovery, the `1,000 per
month ‘Women Right
Assistance’ would be pro-
vided soon to beneficiaries,
he asserted. He would ful-
fill his poll promises for
sure, he added.
Stalin blamed the previ-
ous AIADMK regime for
delaying local body polls as
they ‘feared’ that the DMK
would expose their ‘cor-
rupt’ deeds by winning
civic elections. The Chief
Minister alleged graft to
the extent of a ‘mountain’
in local bodies during the
AIADMK rule, be it in the
Hooch unit unearthed Real fight with DMK: BJP leader
near Thanjavur, 6 held
G. SRINIVASAN I DC
THANJAVUR, FEB 13
The police unearthed a
spurious liquor unit at
Thulukkanpatti near
Thanjavur on Sunday
morning and arrested six
persons in this connection.
According to the police,
acting on a tip-off and an
order of Ravalipriya, SP,
Thanjavur district, a team
led by sub-inspector
53,922 metric tonnes of
paddy procured in Nagai
R. VALAYAPATHY I DC
NAGAPATTINAM, FEB 13
As many as 156 direct pro-
curement centres (DPCs)
of the Tamil Nadu Civil
Supplies Corporation
(TNCSC), functioning
across the Nagapattinam
district have so far pro-
cured 53,922 metric
tonnes of paddy from
farmers, according to
TNCSC and consumer
protection department
c o m m i s s i o n e r
Rajaraman.
Rajaraman accompa-
largely free media. If the
Uyghurs of Xinjiang feel oppr-
essed, they can do very little
about it. “We hold these truths
to be self-evident, that all men
are created equal,” reads the
American Declaration of
Rights. That is stretched like
never before now as the
Democrats and Trumpian
Republicans display what dam-
age divisions can wreak.
Living with the declining
Covid pandemic should be less
of a challenge than to under-
stand the contradictions crop-
ping up in the world now.
Divisions are now entrenched
in many countries between
those favouring cautious covid
policies and those who are hos-
tile to state interference. The
divisions remain stark as
China keeps ducking the
responsibility of allowing an
open probe into virus origins
even as news is beginning to
emerge that a laboratory as the
source of a leak cannot be
ruled out. The raging argu-
ments over freedoms and
rights versus Covid restric-
tions and lockdowns have been
proving divisive enough as
Canada, US, France, New
Zealand and even Australia
grapple with rising protests.
Stalin dips intoWest Bengal CM: Meeting of
Assembly row, gets firm reply Opposition CMs
Chennai, Feb. 13: While
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin
on Sunday said West
Bengal Governor Jagdeep
Dhankhar’s act of prorogu-
ing the Assembly is ‘with-
out any propriety’, the lat-
ter said the House was pro-
rogued at the government’s
request and that the Tamil
Nadu Chief Minister’s
remark was harsh and not
based on fact.
Stalin tweeted, "The act
of #WestBengal Governor
to prorogue the WB Assem-
bly Session is without any
propriety expected from
the exalted post and goes
against the established
norms and conventions."
He further said, "the ‘sym-
bolic’ head of the state
should be the role model to
uphold the constitution.
Beauty of democracy lies
in extending mutual
respect to each other."
Replying to Stalin,
Dhankar on his official
twitter handle said, "Find
it unusually expedient to
respectfully invite indul-
gent attention of TN CM
@mkstalin that his
extremely harsh hurtful
observations are not in the
least in conformity with
facts- attached order.
Assembly was prorogued
Chennai Corporation or
other similar bodies. The
Rajesh searched a godown
at Thulukkampatti village
and found a spurious
liquor unit. They arrested
six persons including
Melvin Sahayaraj (41) of
Pottuchavadi, S.Arivala-
gan (30) of Vilar Road,
Arun Pandiyan of Mari-
ammankoil, Vijayakumar
(42) and S. Muthukumar of
Thirukannamangai and
Palaiappan (38) of
Karaikal.
nied by Nagapattinam
collector A. Arun
Thamburaj inspected a
DPC at Neelappadi village
on Sunday and enquired
about its functioning
from farmers. They told
the media that so far they
have moved 28,568 metric
tonnes of paddy to the
warehouse godowns in
which 11,247 paddy farm-
ers were given Rs 79.33
crores so far, through
online payment.
Later, Rajaraman also
inspected a few fair price
shops in the area.
Coffee is healthy
T A
here is good news for
coffee drinkers who
have been hearing
for years from the other
side of the great coffee-tea
divide about the health
benefits of tea and ques-
tions over caffeine as a
stimulant. The findings
that coffee could help you
live longer comes from
significant research that
included 4,70,000 people
studied over a 11-year
period.
Scientists are saying
that three cups of bean to
cup coffee via filter or cof-
fee maker in a day are best
and that decaffeinated cof-
fee also gives almost the
same benefit, but not
instant coffee. The study
found that moderate cof-
fee drinkers who take up
to three cups a day are 12
per cent less likely to die
and, importantly between
17 and 21 % less likely to
die from heart disease or
stroke. The study was
done by the Semmelweis
University in Budapest
and Queen Mary
University, London.
The benefits of coffee
drinking, scientists say,
are only partly due to caf-
feine. It is thought that
soon in Delhi
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, FEB 13
Chief Minister M.K.
Stalin tweeted that a
meeting of Opposition
CMs will take place
very soon in New
Delhi. He revealed that
West Bengal CM
Mamata Banerjee had
telephoned him about
to share her concerns
over State Governors
at express request @M-
who were not inclined
to go by the
Constitution and mis-
use their powers in the
amataOfficial @rajbha- States.
van_tn." His tweet read –
Dhankar also posted an “Beloved Didi Mamata
official communication Banerjee telephoned
in this regard. Governor me to share her con-
Dhankhar had prorogued cern and anguish on
the Assembly from Satur- the Constitutional ove-
day based on the state rstepping and brazen
government’s recommen- misuse of power by the
dation. Trinamool Governors of non-BJP
Congress spokesperson ruled states. She sug-
Kunal Ghosh said, "The gested for a meeting of
governor did not take the Opposition CMs. I
decision on his own initia- assured her of DMK’s
tive. He has prorogued the commitment to uphold
Assembly following the State autonomy. Con-
recommendation of vention of Opposition
the Cabinet. There is no CMs will soon happen
confusion in it." —PTI out of Delhi!”
DMK chief appealed party and allies in the
to the people to vote for his local polls. —PTI
Coimbatore, Feb. 13 : President of
the BJP’s Tamil Nadu
K.Annamalai on Sunday said the real
unit
fight in the urban civic polls, sched-
uled for February 19 was between the
saffron party and the ruling DMK. He
said Chief Minister M K Stalin was
targeting and opposing the BJP in almost all his cam-
paigns for the polls.
This was evident when Stalin opposed the BJP when
the tableau of Tamil Nadu was rejected during the
Republic Day parade, Annamalai told reporters.
On snapping ties with the AIADMK and fighting alone
in the civic elections, he said the BJP wanted to prove its
strength and win more seats. —PTI
■ No more one-week quarantine for people arriving from abroad
New Covid guidelines come into force
Chennai, Feb. 13: sion.
Arriving international According to the guide-
passengers arriving will lines, all the passengers
not be required to undergo will show a self-declara-
mandatory weeklong quar- tion form on arrival at the
antine as new Covid-19 airport. The passengers
guidelines of the Ministry found to be symptomatic
of Health and Family during screening will be
Welfare come into force immediately isolated and
from Monday. taken to a medical facility
The Ministry of Health under health protocol. If
& Family Welfare on tested positive, their con-
February 10 released tacts will be identified and
detailed guidelines for managed as per laid down
international arrivals at protocol.
airports and seaports in The protocol post arrival
the country, doing away mandates that two per cent
with the quarantine provi- of the total passengers in a
antioxidants and other including tea, is bad.
chemicals play a larger The good news is that
role in this. The study was three cups of beans to cup
focused on the effect of ground coffee can be had
coffee on cardiovascular without any feeling of
health as coffee was a sus- guilt or apprehension.
pect for long in this The steaming cup of
regard. morning coffee is not the
High coffee intake by only stimulant as you can
compulsive coffee repeat it twice more in the
drinkers was found to be day and hope to love
directly linked to all-caus- longer while being free of
es and cardiovascular the alarm of cardiovascu-
mortality. But then you lar health being affected.
could say that excessive Time then to say cheers to
consumption of anything, coffee!
pg 2
T.K.M.Chinnaiya, Former Animal Husbandry minister, campaigns for
P.K.Parasuraman who is contesting for 50th Ward Councilor post on behalf of the
AIADMK in the Tambaram Municipal Election. —DC
AIADMK urges Guv to act
against DMK’s ‘unruly’ acts
Chennai, Feb. 13: Allegi- unruly manner against The DMK is facing the
ng intimidation of its can- their workers have been local polls along with its
didates by the ruling DMK listed and a memorandum allies in Tamil Nadu
and unruly activities by was presented to Ravi on which includes the
them aimed against party Saturday at the Raj Congress and Left parties.
nominees in the upcom- Bhavan, an AIADMK The AIADMK and BJP,
ing urban civic polls, the release here said. who together fought the
principal opposition In the petition seeking 2021 Assembly election
AIADMK on Sunday said ‘appropriate action,’ the are fighting polls sepa-
it has urged Governor R N AIADMK labelled the rately.
Ravi to take appropriate Tamil Nadu State Election Pattali Makkal Katchi,
action on the matter. Commission as a ‘puppet’ Amma Makkal Munnetra
While the polls to urban in the hands of the DMK Kazhagam, Makkal
local bodies are slated for and this was condemned Needhi Maiam, top Tamil
February 19 in the state, by the main opposition actor Vijay’s fans’ associa-
its candidates are being party. Former Ministers D tion (Thalapathi Vijay
intimidated in several Jayakumar, C Ve Makkal Iyakkam), film-
ways by the DMK work- Shanmugam, and P maker-politician Seeman-
ers, the AIADMK alleged. Benjamin called on the led Naam Tamizhar
Instances of ruling party Governor at Raj Bhavan Katchi are among others
people behaving in an here, the party said. who are in the fray. —PTI
Normal suburban rail services
from today after a gap of 2 years
DC CORRESPONDENT services have been revised and restored
CHENNAI, FEB 13 to Pre-Covid-19 services in all sections
with effect from Monday onwards.
Normal suburban trains have been A total of 658 services will be operated
restored in Chennai from Monday after a in Chennai Suburban areas during
gap of two years. A release from the weekdays. As many as 254 services in
Southern Railway stated that the subur- Chennai – Arakkonam section, 84 servic-
ban trains services will be restored to es in Chennai – Gummudipundi section,
pre-covid-19 services in Chennai. 80 services in Chennai Beach –
Following relaxations in Covid-19 pro- Velachery section and 240 services will
tocol announced by Tamil Nadu govern- be operated in Chennai Beach –
ment, the EMU timings for weekday Chengalpattu section from Monday.
flight will undergo random weeklong home quaran- shall be reviewed from
testing at the airport. Such tine. The guidelines state if time to time.
travellers in each flight travellers under self- The guidelines further
will be identified by the health monitoring develop stipulate all travellers sho-
airlines concerned, prefer- signs and symptoms sug- uld submit complete and
ably from different coun- gestive of Covid-19, they factual information in self-
tries. They will submit the will immediately self-iso- declaration form on the
samples and will be late and report to their online air portal Suvidha
allowed to leave the air- nearest health facility or before the scheduled trav-
port. If such travellers test call national helpline num- el, including last 14 days'
positive, their samples ber (1075)/ state helpline travel details. They will
would be sent for genomic number. also upload a negative Co-
sequencing. This Standard Operating vid-19 RT-PCR report not
All travellers will self- Procedure will be valid earlier than 72 hrs prior to
monitor their health for from midnight of undertaking the travel
the next 14 days of arrival. February 14 till further or certificate of complet-
Earlier, such travellers orders. Based on the risk ing full primary vaccina-
were required to undergo assessment, this document tion schedule. —PTI
Facebook takes a beating
s Facebook stocks
saw a record Wall
Street one-day fall of
26.4% knocking $230 bn off
its value, founder Mark
Zuckerberg saw his wealth
hit by $28.5 bn. While the
world won’t stop for billion-
aires losing a fortune now
and then, it seems to be
worried about the future of
Meta now. The fall in FB’s
popularity in terms of
daily user numbers, down
by a million to 1.929 bn, was
also partially caused by ris-
ing data cost in India where
cost of internet access on
prepaid mobiles has gone
up nearly 25%. FB’s fall is
counterbalanced by the
rise in numbers for stable-
mates Instagram and
WhatsApp.
The worries around FB
are for Meta’s big “meta- one-day falls like Apple a Wall Street is not
verse” spend on virtual couple of years ago. impressed with FB’s strate-
reality technology and "People have a lot of choic- gy right now but only time
whether the future really es for how they want to and public taste will deter-
lies there. The present has spend their time, and apps mine what happens to New
been governed by the rise like TikTok are growing Tech stock. It appears the
in users for the Chinese very quickly," was what great days of Facebook rise
video app TikTok, which poor little rich Zuckerberg that dates back to 2004 are
also caused the price of told his investors. at an end, for now at least.
Twitter stock to fall 5.6%. It would be interesting to
It would be hard to pre- see how the tech world (R. Mohan is Resident
dict trends in a fast-chang- trends once metaverse is in Editor of Chennai and
ing world in which tech and VR takes users to a dif- Coimbatore editions of
stocks have also seen big ferent level. Deccan Chronicle)
 STATE
DECCAN CHRONICLE | MONDAY | 14 FEBRUARY 2022 | COIMBATORE
SHORT TAKES
NEW APP FROM
HOTEL GROUP
Chennai: A one-of-a-kind app
has been launched by the ITC
hotel group through which
guests will be able to access
services like room reserva-
tions, restaurant reservations,
food delivery and takeaway,
loyalty membership essentials
and much more, across all ITC,
Welcomhotels and select
Fortune hotels. The app
enables guests to book their
stay at over 55 hotels and
resorts.
There are discounts and
bonus points for club members
and business travellers can
book their stays at their organ-
isations’ contracted corporate
rates via the app. Guests can
order home their favourites
from the iconic cuisine brands
through Gourmet Couch - ITC
Hotels pan India food delivery
initiative through the app.
Guests can order through a
Common Cart where they can
place an order from multiple
signature menus in one order,
order combos or curated set
menus, besides making table
reservations at over 75 restau-
rants in the group hotels.
“We are living in a digital
world and want our guests to
enjoy the ITC Hotels experi-
ence with the convenience,
efficacy, innovative and inter-
active interface that the new
ITC Hotels app offers, along
with multiple benefits and
privileges,” said Anil Chadha,
Divisional Chief Executive,
ITC Hotels.
PAT GROWS
34% FOR VA
TECH WABAG
Chennai, Feb. 13: The con-
solidated revenue of `2,087
crore of VA TECH WABAG, a
leading Indian MNC in the
water sector, was up by 14%
year on year, according to fig-
ures released by the company
in its nine months FY21-22
results. The consolidated
EBITDA of `175 Crore; up by
23% YoY.
The consolidated PAT of `86 cr
was up by 35% YoY while
standalone revenue of `1,490
crore was up by 30% YoY. The
standalone EBITDA of `129
Crore was up by 19% YoY and
standalone PAT of `60 Crore
was up by 50% YoY.
“We are pleased to note that
our order book position con-
tinues to remain over `10,000
crore during the last few quar-
ters, along with the improved
pace of execution,” said Mr.
Rajiv Mittal, MD and Group
CEO.
TVS SUPPLY CHAIN
SOLUTIONS FILES
DRAFT PAPERS
WITH SEBI
Chennai, Feb 13: TVS Supply
Chain Solutions, part of
TVS Mobility Group, has filed
preliminary papers with
capital markets regulator
Sebi to raise funds through an
initial public offering (IPO).
The initial share-sale consists
of fresh issue of equity shares
aggregating up to `2,000 crore
and an Offer for Sale (OFS) of
up to 5.95 crore equity shares
by promoter and existing
investors, according to the
draft red herring prospectus
(DRHP).
Those offering shares in the
OFS are TVS Mobility, Omega
TC Holdings
Mahogany
PTE Ltd,
Singapore
Company PTE Ltd, Tata
Capital Financial Services Ltd
and
Service.
DRSR Logistics
According to market sources,
the size of the initial
public offering will be `5,000
crore.
The company may consider a
pre-IPO placement aggregat-
ing up to `400 crore. If such
placement is completed, the
fresh issue size will be
reduced, as per the draft
papers.
— PTI
3 KILLED
AS BUS RAMS
INTO
AUTORICKSHAW
Coimbatore: Three people
were killed here on Sunday
when a bus rammed into the
autorickshaw in which they
were travelling, police said.
All the deceased were
autorickshaw passengers
while its driver got injured
and was hospitalised, the
police said.
The dead were two men in
their 20s and a 50-year-old
man, they said.
—PTI
‘One nation, one election’ another
anti-democratic move of BJP: IUML
R. VALAYAPATHY I DC
TIRUCHY, FEB 13
The ‘one nation, one election’
move by the Union government is
not practically possible and is yet
another proof of the anti-demo-
cratic attitude of the BJP, accord-
ing to Indian Union Muslim
League (IUML) national president
Prof. K.M. Khader Mohideen.
Addressing a press conference
here on Sunday, he pointed out
that the Union government’s steps
were against the federal set-up
envisaged in the Constitution of
India.
Ahead of Valentines Day, roses of different colours were stacked up for sale in
Madurai. The rose is still the favourite for presenting to loved ones. —DC
‘Olai sapparams’ pulled in temples
DC CORRESPONDENT
THANJAVUR, FEB 13
‘Olai sapparams’ were pulled as part of ‘Masi maham’ fes-
tival with the principal deities of Siva temples at
Kumbakonam on Saturday night.
‘Olai sapparams’ of Adhikumbeswaraswamy temple,
Kasiviswanathaswamy, Abhimukheswarar, Gowtha-
meswarar and Kalahastheeswarar temples converged at
Nageswaran temple. People had darshan of the lords.
Principal deities of Vaishnavite temples ie
Rajagopalaswamy, Adhivarahaswamy and Chakkarapani
temples came in Garuda vahanam and gave ‘garudasevai’
to devotees around Chakkarapani temple as part of ‘Masi
maham’ festival
TN continues to record
falling Covid-19 numbers
Chennai, Feb. 13: Tamil
Nadu's daily Covid tally
continued to fall on
Sunday, as the State
reported 2,296 new cases
while recoveries
outnumbered fresh infec-
tions.
The State witnessed 11
Covid-related fatalities,
pushing the total deaths
so far to 37,915, according
to a government health
bulletin.
With the 2,296
new cases, the overall
Covid numbers in
the State went up to
Heart-shaped chocolates to
woo Valentines in Nilgiris
B. RAVICHANDRAN I DC
OOTY, FEB 13
As the globe geared up to
celebrate Valentine’s Day
on Monday with an extra
enthusiasm this year, in
the Nilgiris home-made
chocolates have started
occupying the centre-stage
on the special event.
Home-made chocolate is
a must buy product in the
Nilgiris as the hill weather
helps to bring out a very
tasty,
candy.
mouth-watering
This year the M&N
Chocolate Museum here,
first of its kind in the
country, has made a value
addition to the Valentine’s
Day celebration with a
touch of innovation and
creativity by bringing out
special ‘heart-shaped’
home-made chocolates
laced with vegetable and
fruit powders to help the
Valentines to greet their
sweethearts and loved
ones with a special taste
and flavour.
Fazloor Rahman, joint
proprietor of M&N
Chocolate Museum here,
an alumnus of
Ecolechocolate Institute at
Prof Mohideen said the 8-month-
old government led by M. K.Stalin
has achieved several things and
the DMK-led secular front will
win in the February 19 urban local
bodies election like the 2019 Lok
Sabha election and the 2021
assembly election. He called upon
the DMK front leaders to work for
its victory.
Prof Mohideen criticised BJP
state president K. Annamalai's
‘irresponsible’ remarks against
the DMK Government and said
Annamalai had crossed all limits.
Asked about the Tamil Nadu
government's struggle against the
34,36,262.
As many as 8,229 people
were cured of the virus,
with the total recoveries
mounting to
33,56,648.
Chennai with 461 new
cases and
Coimbatore with 432
topped the districts
among the fresh
infections, the bulletin
said.
Perambalur and
Tenkasi registered the
lowest of three new cases
each.
—PTI
Canada and a reputed
name in home-made
chocolate industry in
India, said though heart-
shaped home-made choco-
late has been in the shops
for some years its sale gen-
erally peaks around the
Valentines’ Day. “This
year we wanted to give this
heart-shaped home-made
chocolate more signifi-
cance by making it in dif-
ferent colours using fruit
and vegetable powders,
including dry beet-root
powder, with appropriate
Valentine's Day messages
and phrases written upon
individual chocolates and
in gift packs to make it
more a charming and
much-sought-after gift
item.
Home-made chocolates
need a special baking
craftsmanship to bring out
the desired taste and
flavour. Home-made
chocolates of Ooty are the
growing attraction in the
field of confectionery. For
this year’s Valentine’s Day
special home-made choco-
late making we used
Nilgiri-grown cocoa, that
make it very special,’’ he
added.
NEET, he said that education
comes under the concurrent list
and issues on education should be
jointly sorted out by the central
and state governments.
He added that the resolution
against the NEET passed by the
Tamil Nadu assembly reflected
the sentiments of the people of
Tamil Nadu and wanted the
Governor to respect the people's
sentiments. Returning the resolu-
tion against the NEET by the
Governor is a clear violation of
his duty. He hoped the governor
will take a good decision on the
new resolution moved by the
Budget aims at growth of
entire nation: Minister
Coimbatore, Feb 13: The
Budget presented by
Union Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman was
aimed at the growth and
progress of the entire
nation, without targeting
any specific state, Union
Minister of State for
Information and
Broadcasting and
Fisheries L Murugan said
on Sunday.
Highlighting various
features in the budget like
expansion of PM's e-
Vidya programme to 200
TV channels for educa-
tion, digital university
and 23 tele-mental health
centres, he said that this
was a part of a vision for
the coming 25 years.
The Finance Minister
has given priority for the
development
progress of the entire
and
nation without consider-
ing any individual state,
Murugan told reporters
here. He said that that
announcement of 400
Vande Bharat Trains in
addition to 102 such
trains in the pipeline was
welcomed by all and
developing one station,
one product will benefit
The Valentine's Day special Ooty home-made chocolate. —DC
assembly against the NEET, and
will send the same to the
President of India for his assent
this time.
He said the IUML has nominated
party national secretary E.T.
Mohammed Basheer MP and state
vice-president Nawaz Kani MP as
its representatives of the All-India
Federation for Social Justice
(AIFSJ), initiated by Mr Stalin. He
said the IUML's demands to the
AIFSJ will be finalised during the
proposed IUML national executive
meeting to be held at Kozhikode
on Monday and will be sent to Mr.
Stalin.
Number of sensitive polling
stations rises in Erode: Police
Erode, Feb 13: The sen-
sitive polling stations
have increased in Erode
district of Tamil Nadu.
According to police
attached to the election
section, the urban local
body elections would be
conducted for the Erode
Municipal Corporation,
four Municipalities and
42 Town Panchayats on
February 19. The votes
would be counted on
February 22.
The police officials said
for the peaceful conduct
of the election, 1,221
booths were formed in
401 places in the district.
They verified each and
every area in the 401
places. Till last week,
they found 133 polling
stations were sensitive.
After further investiga-
the farmers.
The budget also
announced Jal Jeevan
Mission (Urban) to bring
safe water to 2.86 crore
households through tap
connection, in line with
the Centre's rural water
supply project launched
in 2019, he said.
Asked about demands
from industrialists in
Tamil Nadu for bringing
down raw material prices,
Murugan said the budget
has many features for the
benefit of MSMEs, like
Emergency Credit Line
Guarantee Scheme, as a
result of which
Coimbatore alone benefit-
ed to the tune of Rs 1,300
crore. Besides, the gov-
ernment has fulfilled var-
ious demands from Tamil
Nadu from time to time,
he said.
The linking of
Godavari, Pennar and
Cauvery rivers will large-
ly benefit Tamil Nadu,
Murugan said. He refused
to respond to queries on
the proroguing of West
Bengal Assembly by the
Governor. "No political
questions, only budget,"
he said. —PTI
pg 3
Villagers hoist black flags
against water scheme
G. SRINIVASAN I DC
THANJAVUR, FEB 13
The residents
Thiruchennampoondi
of
river is supplied to
Pudukottai, Kantharv-
akottai, Karambakudi,
Thiruvarankulam,
Aranthangi etc. "If the
village near Budalur second scheme is
hoisted black flags atop implemented, there
their houses on Sunday will be no water in the
in protest against a sec- village borewells for
ond combined water cultivation. Sand quar-
scheme to be imple- ries also function in the
mented from Kollidam area depleting under-
river in their ground water.
hamlet. So the scheme should
People said that not be implemented. To
already a combined lodge our protest, we
water scheme is func- hoisted black flags in
tioning and the water houses," said V.
pumped using Jeevakumar, who led
borewells from the the protest.
tions, they declared on
Sunday that 184 polling CPM ACTIVIST DMK CANDIDATE GIVES
stations were sensitive
and located in 72 places, ACCIDENTALLY BIRTH TO MALE BABY
where additional armed
policemen would be ELECTROCUTED G. SRINIVASAN I DC
deployed. Further, more THANJAVUR, FEB 13
CCTV cameras would be DC CORRESPONDENT
installed to prevent any TIRUCHY, FEB 13 A DMK woman candidate for the
untoward incident. Thanjavur city corporation elec-
Meanwhile, the Erode A CPI(M) activist, tion delivered a male baby on
Municipal Corporation Ayyavu, aged 78, was Saturday. Dr Anjugam Bhoopathy
said for violation of elec- electrocuted when he is the DMK candidate in ward 51.
tion norms, the civic accidentally contacted She is also the convenor of the
body has received 13 the overhead powerline DMK district medical unit. Her
complaints from the gen- while erecting husband is Vetrikumar, state
eral public and were a party flag post at his youth wing joint secretary.
investigating into the house in Thuvakudi As she was starting from her
matter. Similarly, the north near Tiruchy on house for campaign on Saturday,
TASMAC officials Saturday. He was rushed she developed labour pain and was
declared that due to the to the government hospi- admitted to a private hospital at
election, the outlets and tal at Thuvakudi where Arulananda Nagar.
their attached bars
would be closed on
the doctors declared him
dead. The Thuvakudi
DMK cadres celebrated the
arrival of the new baby.
February 17, 18, 19 and 22 police are investigating. Vetrikumar said that both mother
in the district. —PTI and baby are safe.
Puducherry adds 91 new Covid-19 cases
Puducherry, Feb 13: The union territory
of Puducherry logged 91 fresh Covid-19
cases during the last 24 hours pushing the
and the remaining 1,255 in home quaran-
tine, Sriramulu said.
The Health department Director said as
overall tally to 1,65, 243, a top Health depart- many as 375 patients recovered and were
ment official said on Sunday. No Covid discharged and the overall recoveries stood
related fatalities were reported in the 24 at 1,61,989. The Department of Health has
hours ending 10 am Sunday and the death so far tested 21,91,504 samples and found
toll remained at 1,957, Director of Health G 18,36,031 out of them to be negative.
Sriramulu said in a release here. Sriramulu said the test positivity rate was
The 91 new cases were identified at the 5.18 per cent while the fatality and recovery
end of the examination of 1,758 samples rates were 1.8 per cent and 98.03 per cent
and were spread over Puducherry (52), respectively. The Department has so far
Karaikal (31), Yanam (five) and Mahe administered 15,56,015 doses which com-
(three). The overall tally stood at 1,65,243. prised 9,26,274 first doses, 6,18,695 second
The number of active cases stood at 1,297 and 11,046 booster doses, the Director said.
with 42 undergoing treatment in hospitals —PTI
President Ram Nath Kovind
with First Lady Savita
Kovind, Telangana Governor
Tamilisai Soundararajan and
others, during his visit to the
'Statue of Equality' at Chinna
Jeeyar Swami Ashram, in
Muchintal, on the outskirts
of Hyderabad, Sunday.
— PTI
SAINTS LIKE RAMANUJACHARYA BUILT THE CONCEPT
OF NATION BASED ON CULTURAL VALUES: PRESIDENT
Hyderabad, Feb.
Saint-poets and philoso-
phers like Ramanujacharya
13: singular contribution to
philosophy but also showed
the relevance of philosophy
said. Equality before law,
prohibition of all forms of
discrimination, equality of
have created and nurtured in day-to-day life, he said. opportunity, abolition of
cultural identity, cultural "What is called philosophy untouchability - all these
continuity and cultural in the West has been fundamental rights have
unity of the country, reduced to a subject of only been enshrined in the
President Ram Nath scholarly study. Indian Constitution.
Kovind said on Sunday. But what we call ‘Darshan' To achieve the constitu-
Addressing a gathering is not a matter of dry analy- tional objective of establish-
after attending the millen- sis; it is a way of looking at ing an equitable society,
nium birth anniversary cel- the world and also a way of many programmes of pub-
ebrations of 11th century life. That has always lic welfare are run by the
saint Ramanujacharya remained true in India, government, Kovind added.
here, Kovind said the saint- thanks to philosopher- Earlier, Telangana
poets and philosophers
have built the concept of a
saints
Ramanujacharya," Kovind
like Governor Tamilisai
Soundararjan and Chief
nation based on cultural
values.
said. The President further
said Babasaheb Bhimrao
Minister
Chandrashekhar Rao wel-
K
"This culture-based con-
cept of nation is different
Ambedkar, who stood for
social justice, had clearly
comed the President at the
airport at Begumpet here.
from how it is defined in the
western thought.
stated that the fundamental
constitutional ideals of the
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on February 5 inaugu-
References to the bhakti tra- country's modern republic rated a 216-foot statue of
dition that united India in a are based on the cultural Ramanujacharya at Chinna
single-thread centuries ago heritage of India. Jeeyar Swamy Ashram in
are found in the Puranas. Babasaheb had also men- Muchintal on the city out-
This tradition can be seen tioned with great respect skirts. The 'Statue of
in the form of the bhakti the egalitarian ideals of Equality' commemorates
sects inspired by Ramanujacharya, the Ramanujacharya who pro-
Ramanujacharya, which President said adding: moted the idea of equality
had spread from Srirangam "Thus, our concept of equal- in all aspects of living,
and Kancheepuram in ity is not derived from west- including faith, caste and
Tamil Nadu to Varanasi in ern countries. It has devel- creed. The inauguration of
Uttar Pradesh. Thus, the oped in the cultural soil of the statue is a part of the 12-
emotional unity of Indians India. Our eternal vision of day Ramanuja Sahasrabdi
is centuries old," the ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ Samaroham, the ongoing
President said. is based on equality." 1000th birth anniversary
Ramanujacharya's "Equality is the corner- celebrations of
‘Vishishtadvait' is not only a stone of our democracy," he Ramanujacharya. —PTI
 NATION
DECCAN CHRONICLE | MONDAY | 14 FEBRUARY 2022 | COIMBATORE
SHORT TAKES
‘Channi losing from
both constituencies’
Amritsar: AAP leader Arvind
Kejriwal on Sunday claimed
that Punjab chief minister
Charanjit Singh Channi is
losing from both constituen-
cies — Chamkaur Sahib and
Bhadaur — in the February
20 Assembly polls. “We have
conducted surveys thrice. In
all the three surveys, the
AAP was ahead in both the
seats,” he said. Mr Channi,
who is Congress’ chief minis-
terial candidate, is contest-
ing the polls from his home
turf Chamkaur Sahib in
Rupnagar and Bhadaur in
Barnala. According to the
survey, in Chamkaur Sahib,
Mr Channi is liked by 35 per
cent people and 52 per cent
people chose the AAP,
claimed Delhi chief minister
Kejriwal. On the other hand,
in Bhadaur, the second con-
stituency from where Mr
Channi is contesting, 48 per
cent people liked the AAP
candidate while Mr Channi
was liked by only 30 per
cent people, he said. — PTI
Initiate talks with
Lanka: Stalin to PM
Chennai: Flagging the arrest
of 12 fishermen by Sri Lanka
in the early hours of Sunday,
Tamil Nadu chief minister
M.K. Stalin urged Prime
Minister Narendra Modi to
convene bilateral talks with
the neighbouring country to
find a solution to the vexa-
tious issue and get a total of
41 fishermen and their boats
released. In yet another inci-
dent, 12 fishermen have been
apprehended by Sri Lanka,
Stalin said. “Such incidents
are happening with alarming
regularity, causing deep dis-
tress to the people of Tamil
Nadu,” the CM said in a let-
ter to the Prime Minister. The
fishermen had ventured out
for fishing from Rameswa-
ram base in two mechanised
fishing boats. They were
arrested by the Sri Lankan
Navy in the early hours of
February 13 and taken to
Thalai Mannar. — PTI
Himanta defends
remarks on Rahul
Guwahati: Despite wide-
spread criticism over his
controversial father-son
remarks on Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi, Assam chief
minister Himanta Biswa
Sarma on Sunday defended
his comments and asserted
that questioning the Army
personnel will “not be toler-
ated anymore”. In a series of
tweets, Mr Sarma posted
several screenshots of news
reports of the Congress’
statements on the 2016 sur-
gical strike and the appoint-
ment of Den. Bipin Rawat as
the Army Chief and the
Chief of Defence Staff
among others. “Is it wrong
to stand by our great armed
forces? Let’s not question
their patriotism. Don’t seek
proof of what they did for
the country...,” the Assam
chief minister tweeted. — PTI
BSP NAMES 47
FOR 7th PHASE
OF POLLS IN U.P.
Lucknow: The BSP released
a list of 47 candidates on
Sunday for the seventh
phase of the ongoing UP
Assembly polls. The list
includes candidates for the
constituencies of Azamgarh,
Mau, Jaunpur, Ghazipur,
Chandauli, Varanasi,
Bhadohi, Mirzapur and
Sonbhadra districts. The
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
has attempted to strike a
fine caste balance in its list
of candidates. The Mayawati-
led party has fielded its
state president Bhim Rajbhar
against mafia-turned-politi-
cian Mukhtar Ansari, who is
presently lodged in the
Banda jail, from Mau. Five-
time MLA Ansari won the
2017 Assembly election from
Mau on a BSP ticket. The
BSP had won four seats in
Azamgarh district five years
ago but this time, it has re-
nominated only Azad
Arimardan from the Lalganj
reserved seat. Sukhdev
Rajbhar, who won from the
Didarganj constituency in
Azamgarh in 2017, died last
year, while Shah Alam alias
Guddu Jamali, who won
from Mubarakpur, quit the
party subsequently. Vandana
Singh, who won the 2017
polls on a BSP ticket from
Sagdi, is in the fray from the
BJP this time. The BSP has
fielded Shankar Yadav from
Sagadi, Abdusalam from
Mubarakpur and Bhupendra
Singh alias Munna from
Didarganj.
In the Zahoorabad seat in
Ghazipur district, the BSP
BJP ‘jittery’, is raking up Shah slams Cong over 1984 anti-Sikh riots, targets Channi
hijab row, says Khurshid ‘Only BJP & allies can secure
‘Not announcing UP CM face not a cause of concern’
ASIM KAMAL
NEW DELHI, FEB. 13
Accusing the BJP of pola-
risation during the Asse-
mbly polls by raking up
issues such as the Hijab
row and the Uniform Civil
Code, senior Congress
leader Salman Khurshid
on Sunday said it showed
that the BJP was “jittery”
as its hold over the elec-
torate was slipping, and
asserted that the people
were beginning to see
“through their tricks”.
He also termed the dub-
bing of the polls in UP as a
bipolar contest between
the BJP and the
Samajwadi Party by some
quarters as an “exaggera-
tion” and said “this will
not be the end of the story
of the Congress party’s
revival, this will be the
beginning of that story”.
Mr Khurshid also stated
that not announcing a CM
face was not a cause of
concern for the Congress
in UP as the party has
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
leading from the front.
Asked about the hijab
row that erupted in
Karnataka and has since
reared its head in other
states as well, he said it
Adityanath &
Akhilesh two
sides of same
coin: Owaisi
Farrukhabad, Feb 13:
AIMIM chief Asaduddin
Owaisi on Sunday
dubbed Uttar Pradesh
chief minister Yogi
Adityanath and
Samajwadi Party chief
Akhilesh Yadav as “two
sides of the same coin”.
Mr Owaisi, the All India
Majlis-E-Ittehadul
Muslimeen chief and
Hyderabad MP, made the
remark while address-
ing an election rally.
“Yogi (Adityanath) and
Akhilesh (Yadav) are
two sides of the same
coin,” said Mr Owaisi
while seeking votes for
the candidates of
Bhagidari Parivartan
Morcha so that former
Uttar Pradesh minister
Babu Singh Kushwaha
could be made the UP
chief minister.
While likening
Akhilesh Yadav to Yogi
Adityanath, Mr Owaisi
did not explain how the
two leaders were similar.
He, however, had been
asserting in the past that
both Akhilesh Yadav
and his father Mulayam
Singh Yadav could
become UP chief minis-
ters on “charity votes”
of 19 per cent Muslims,
far outnumbering the
votes of nine per cent
Yadavs. — PTI
Anti-BJP moves: KCR going to
Mumbai, Mamata heads to Hyd
Hyderabad, Feb. 13:
Telangana chief minister
K. Chandrashekar Rao on
Sunday said he will soon
have meetings with his
Maharashtra and West
Bengal counterparts
Uddhav Thackeray and
Mamata Banerjee as part
of the efforts to unite var-
ious political parties
against the BJP and the
NDA government. He said
he may go to Mumbai any-
time soon to meet Mr
Thackeray while the West
Bengal CM is expected to
come to Hyderabad to
meet KCR.
Charging that the Modi-
led NDA government
should be dumped for its
alleged anti-people poli-
cies, he said he would play
a major role in uniting
Karakoram region glaciers stable, others melting fast: Govt
New Delhi, Feb. 13:
Glaciers in the
Karakoram region are in
a stable condition, but
those feeding the Ganga
and the Brahmaputra
river basins are melting
at a faster rate, the earth
sciences ministry has
said. In reply to a written
question in the Lok
Sabha, the ministry said
the mean retreat rate of
the Hindukush Himala-
yan glaciers was 14.9-15.1
metres per annum, which
I am getting more and more of the
sense that people are beginning to
see through their tricks, including
people who have supported them
(BJP), in the past few years and I
hope this will have an impact on
the actual result
— Salman Khurshid,
Senior Congress leader
may well be a “very devi-
ous strategy” deployed by
the BJP but it is also a
reflection of their “com-
plete and total bankruptcy
of ideas”.
It also shows a complete
lack of confidence in their
performance of the last
seven years, the former
Union minister added.
“I am getting more and
more of the sense that
people are beginning to
see through their tricks
including people who
have supported them
(BJP) in the past few years
and I hope this will have
an impact on the actual
result,” said Mr
Khurshid, whose wife
Louise Khurshid is con-
testing
Farrukhabad.
from UP’s
Asked if he sees the
Rahul: Frauds of `5.35L-cr
occurred under Modi govt
New Delhi, Feb. 13:
Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi on Sunday alleged
that bank frauds to the
tune of `5.35 lakh crore
have taken place during
the BJP government and
that these are good days
only for Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s
“friends”. “Bank frauds of
`5,35,000 crore have hap-
pened so far during the
Modi era — in 75 years
there has never been such
a fraud with the money of
people of India,” Mr
Gandhi said on Twitter.
“These days of loot and
deceit are good days only
Maximum riots in UP during SP rule: Yogi
Farrukhabad (UP), Feb.
13: Chief minister Yogi
Adityanath on Sunday
said Uttar Pradesh saw the
maximum number of riots
during the Samajwadi
Party rule and only the
incumbent BJP govern-
ment kept such incidents
under check. He also said
since vaccines against
Covid-19 saved lives, votes
should also go to “Yogi and
Modi vaccines”.
In his addresses at the
election rallies in Rajepur
and Kamalganj, Mr
Adityanath called the SP
“a party of rioters” and
said the maximum num-
ber of riots in the state
anti-BJP political parties.
Alleging that there was
corruption in Rafale fight-
er plans deal, Mr Rao said
he will approach the
Supreme Court to bring
out the truth.
“Mamata Behen (Mam-
ata Banerjee) called me.
We had a discussion over
phone. She invited me to
Bengal or she’ll come to
Hyderabad. She said
mujhe dosa kilao. I said
most welcome. She may
come any time. We are dis-
cussing. There are so
many political leaders
across the nation, KCR
said when asked if he is
still mooting the idea of
non-BJP, non-Congress
Front.
“Mr Thackeray is also
waiting. They are waiting
varied from 12.7-13.2
metres per annum in the
Indus, 15.5-14.4 metres per
annum in the Ganga and
20.2-19.7 metres per ann-
um in the Brahmaputra
river basins.
“However, glaciers in
the Karakoram region
have shown comparative-
ly minor length change (-
1.37-22.8 m/a), indicating
the stable condition,” the
ministry said, citing stud-
ies carried out by various
institutions associated
hijab issue being raised as
a polarisation strategy
ahead of polls, he asked
why else would it be
raised now.
“Hijab is not something
that started yesterday,
hijab has been going on
for a long time... It is a
known fact that hijab has
been there for a long time
and girls have been using
the hijab in an appropri-
ate manner in terms of
colour and so on. Why
should they be raising it
today? It is very clear that
they are using it for a very
devious reason,” he said.
Underlining that the
courts have taken a clear
view on the matter, he
said most sensible people
will understand that this
is an issue of personal lib-
erty. — PTI
for Modi’s
#KiskeAccheDin,”
friends.
he
also said, taking a swipe
at the government over
the “achhe din” slogan.
The Congress has also
accused the Modi dispen-
sation of complicity, col-
lusion and connivance in
the alleged fraud of
`22,842 crore by the
Gujarat-based ABG
Shipyard, which it
dubbed as “India’s
biggest bank fraud”.
The Opposition party
has been accusing the
Modi dispensation of
helping a select few big
businesses. — PTI
took place during the pre-
vious government as the
Akhilesh Yadav-led party
patronized anti-social ele-
ments.
After the BJP govern-
ment assumed power, he
said, effective curbs were
implemented, which is
why “not a single incident
of rioting took place in
five years”.
Referring to Kavad
Yatra, an annual pilgrim-
age of Lord Shiv devotees,
the chief minister said
curfews were being
clamped during the pro-
cession earlier. However,
under the BJP rule, the
yatra was being taken out
for me. I have to go to
Mumbai. Once this Sri
Ramanujacharya function
is over I think I may go to
Mumbai any time,” he
added.
He, however, did not give
a direct reply if he will
lead the Opposition par-
ties saying “one thing I
promise you that I will
play major role in that”.
He also said as of now
there was no firm plan as
to how the Opposition
unity will take shape in
future and people of the
country should rise to the
occasion.
KCR said though he met
several Opposition leader
and CMs before 2019 polls,
things went in a different
way with BJP coming
back to power. — PTI
with the ministry.
The ministry, through
its autonomous institute
National Centre for Polar
and Ocean Research
(NCPOR), has been moni-
toring six glaciers in the
Chandra basin (2,437
square kilometre area) in
western Himalaya since
2013.
The Geological Survey
of India has taken up a
project on melting of gla-
ciers in the Beas Basin,
South Chenab basin and
pg 4
■
Punjab, uproot drug problem’
‘Amarinder replaced as his
Ludhiana, Feb. 13: dom struggle and also
Union home minister praised the state for con-
Amit Shah on Sunday said tributing immensely
govt was being run by BJP’
only the BJP-led alliance towards making the coun-
can secure Punjab, uproot try self-sufficient in food-
drug menace from the grain production.
state and stop illegal reli- Kotkapura (Punjab), gover nment Addressing the rally, he
gious conversions, even as Feb. 13: The Amarinder there has said it is only the BJP-led
he made a sharp attack Singh-led Punjab gov- been a “fail- alliance that can secure
against chief minister ernment had to be ure”. Punjab, while questioning
Charanjit Singh Channi replaced as it was being P e o p l e the ability of rival parties
and AAP leader Arvind run by the BJP from must be wary to do so.
Kejriwal. Mr Shah, in his Delhi, Congress leader of the Delhi model of Hitting out at Mr
first public rally for the Priyanka Gandhi Vadra governance being touted Channi, the Congress’
February 20 state claimed on Sunday and by the AAP as even the chief ministerial candi-
Assembly polls, hit out at also attacked the Aam BJP came to power at date, Mr Shah said,
the Congress over the 1984 Aadmi Party, saying it the Centre showcasing “Channi sahib you are
anti-Sikh riots and has “emerged” from the its Gujarat model in dreaming of forming
accused Congress leaders RSS. Addressing a pub- 2014, but the reality is another government. A
of being involved in lic meeting ahead of the now before everyone, Ms person who could not
killing of Sikhs in Delhi. February 20 elections to Vadra said. secure the route of the
He also raised the issue the 117-member state Claiming that the Prime Minister, can he
of religious conversion of Assembly, she also acc- Kejriwal-led AAP “em- secure Punjab?”
Sikhs and Hindus in the used the AAP, the main erged” from the RSS, she He was referring to a
state and lambasted the Opposition party in claimed it has an ideolo- “major security lapse” on
Channi-led government Punjab, of doing noth- gy similar to that of the January 5 in which Prime
for “failing” to check this ing in Delhi and said its BJP. — PTI Minister Narendra Modi
practice. was stuck on a flyover in
Mr Shah claimed that
religious conversion of Channi sahib,” he said, BJP could stop the conver-
Punjab for 15-20 minutes
due to a blockade by some
Sikhs and Hindus was a
big problem in Punjab.
adding that the AAP
couldn’t stop them either.
sions.
Mr Shah recalled the sac-
protesters in Ferozepur
and returned without att-
“These religious conver- The Union home minis- rifices made by the people ending an event at a mar-
sions cannot be stopped by ter asserted that only the of Punjab during the free- tyrs’ memorial. — PTI
Hazare not to
sit on strike
against Maha
wine policy
SONU SHRIVASTAVA
MUMBAI, FEB. 13
Veteran social activist
and anti-graft crusader
Anna Hazare on Sunday
announced suspension
of his indefinite strike
against the MVA govern-
ment’s policy which
allows to sell wine in
supermarkets and walk-
in stores, as the state
government has assured
him that they would con-
sider the people’s view
before implementation
Union home minister Amit Shah during an election rally in support of BJP and Punjab
of this policy. The Maha-
Lok Congress’ joint candidate Capt. Amarinder Singh in Patiala on Sunday ahead of rashtra excise depart-
the Punjab polls. — PTI ment officials met Mr
Hazare on Saturday eve-
ning to convey the gov-
ernment’s stand on this
policy. The officials
assured Mr Hazare that
the state would not
cines. Singh Rathore, the chief implement the policy
The third wave of Covid- minister alleged that the before seeking the sug-
19 did not harm the people SP government wanted to gestion and objections
only because of the vac- make Bhojpur “Islama- from the citizens.
cine, Mr Adityanath said, bad”. On January 27, CM
adding, “If the vaccine has “Today, every section of Uddhav Thackeray-led
saved lives, then the votes the society is reaping the Cabinet had cleared a
should also be given to the benefits of development,” proposal to sell wine in
Yogi and Modi vaccines.” he said. supermarkets and walk-
Referring to the action Meanwhile, 55 seats in stores. The rider is
taken by his government spread across nine dis- that these shops should
with much fanfare. against criminals, Mr tricts, including some in be measuring 1,000 sq
He said the “double- Adityanath said the gov- Rohilkhand region, will go feet. Before announcing
engine government” of ernment’s formula is to polls on Monday in the his decision to suspend
the BJP at the Centre and “development on the one second phase of elections the hungerstrike, the vet-
state reached out to the hand and bulldozer on the in UP which will see sen- eran social activist held a
public during the pandem- other”. ior SP leader Mohammad meeting in his village on
ic even when the SP, Addressing a rally in Azam Khan and state Sunday and apprised the
Bahujan Samaj Party and Kamalganj in support of finance minister Suresh government’s stand to
Congress spread “propa- Bhojpur Legislative Asse- Khanna trying their luck the villagers regarding
ganda” against the vac- mbly candidate Nagendra at the hustings. — PTI the policy.
Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin presents gifts to the newly married couple as vice-president M. Venkaiah
Naidu looks on, during the wedding reception of Mr Naidu’s granddaughter Sushma and Kishan in Chennai on
Sunday. — PTI
Minor fire at Bigg
Boss set; none hurt
the Chandra Basin in Mandakini basin was hydrology, downstream Mumbai: A minor fire broke
Himachal Pradesh, and retreating at 9-11 mpa water budget, impact on out at the set of reality tele-
the Shyok and Nubra during 2003-2017. hydropower plants due to vision show Bigg Boss locat-
basin in Ladakh during WIHG was also monitor- variation in discharge, ed at film city in suburban
Field Season 2021-22. ing Durung-Drung and flash flood and sedimenta- Goregaon on Sunday, a fire
It said the Wadia Pensilungpa glaciers in tion, it said. brigade official said. Nobody
Institute of Himalayan Suru basin, Ladakh, They also increase the was injured in the incident.
Geology (WIHG) was which are retreating at 12 risk related to glacier haz- The blaze, classified as level
monitoring a few glaciers mpa and approximately ards due to enhanced one (minor), broke out in the
in Uttarakhand which 5.6 mpa, respectively, the number and volume of afternoon, the official said.
reveal that the Dokriani ministry said. glacier lakes, accelerated “The fire mainly affected
Glacier in the Bhagirathi Melting glaciers have a flashflood and glacial lake the electric duct, wiring, ply-
basin was retreating at 15- significant impact on outburst floods, impact on wood, false ceiling, furniture
20 metre/annum (mpa) water resources of agro practices in high etc in the wooden studio
since 1995, whereas Himalayan rivers due to Himalayan region, the spread in the area of 5,000
Chorabari Glacier in the change in glacier basin ministry said. — PTI square feet,” he said. — PTI
 NATION
DECCAN CHRONICLE | MONDAY | 14 FEBRUARY 2022 | COIMBATORE
pg 5

SHORT TAKES Baghel: 1,715

industries set 3 netas rejoin Trinamul ■ Bid to smuggle cattle with help of bamboo crane

1 killed, 2 injured in Cattle smuggler shot dead

Kannur bomb blast
Kannur, Kerala: One person
was killed and two others
injured in a bomb blast in
Kannur district of Kerala on
Sunday afternoon. According
to the police, the deceased
and the injured were part of
the same group and were
planning to attack another
group with the bomb over
some dispute. On Saturday,
arguments between the two
groups occurred at a house
in Thottada where a wed-
ding was to take place. After
the locals intervened, the
dispute was resolved and
the wedding took place on
Sunday morning. Thereafter,
in the afternoon, around 2
pm, the attack occurred in
front of the wedding party.
No one from the bridal party
was injured in the attack, it
added. When the bomb was
thrown, instead of hitting
someone from the rival
group, it hit Jishnu, a mem-
ber of the attacking group,
whose head was blown to
pieces while two others —
Hemant and Aravind — got
hurt, the police said. — PTI
Zimbabwean held
with `60cr drugs
Mumbai: A 40-year-old
woman was arrested on
Saturday after arriving at
up in C’garh
in last 3 years ahead of WB civic polls along India-Bangla border
RABINDRA NATH
CHOUDHURY
Jolt to BJP as leaders unhappy over functioning of saffron party MANOJ ANAND said Mr Nayak.
◗ THE BORDER guarding
RAIPUR, FEB. 13 Kolkata, Feb. 13: Three ◗ 200 BJP youth wing Sunil Singh. BJP’s Arjun GUWAHATI, FEB. 13 Pointing out that a gang
BJP leaders, who had Singh, who had quit the
personnel deployed of nearly 20-25 smugglers
As many as withdrawn their nomina-
members also joined ruling party in 2019, how- The Border Security along the international from the Indian side came
1,715 new tions for polls to the the TMC in Kharagpur ever, deplored their move, Force (BSF) on Sunday border first tried to stop to the area with cattle
industries Garulia Municipality in area of Paschim calling them “traitors”. morning gunned down a the illegal activities, but heads, he said, “They
involving West Bengal, on Sunday Medinipur dist, claiming “They betrayed our Bangladeshi national at the gang of smugglers wanted to transport the
investments made their way back to the that they were not party, having got tempting the Indo-Bangladesh bor- tried to overpower the cattle heads to the
of `19,500 Trinamul Congress, voic- getting due recognition offers from the TMC. All der in Makchar in west- BSF personnel, forcing Bangladesh side by cross-
crores have been estab- ing grievance over the saf- of them had literally begg- ern Assam’s Dhubri dis- ing over the fencing. A
lished in Chhattisgarh fron party’s style of func- Bhowmik. They were ed for municipal poll tick- trict. The Bangladeshi the BSF to open fire similar gang of smugglers
in the last three years. tioning. Polls to 108 fielded by the saffron ets from the BJP and now national was shot dead had gathered across the
This was informed by municipaliti-es, including party from ward numbers backstabbed the party. while he was trying to personnel deployed along fencing from the
chief minister Bhupesh Garulia, are scheduled to 12, 17 and 18 of Garulia “I have failed as a broth- smuggle cattle to the international border Bangladesh side.”
Baghel during his be held on February 27. municipality. er and uncle. They are no Bangladesh with the help first tried to stop the ille- The BSF DIG said,
“Lokvaani’ address, a The three leaders — for- “We are unhappy with more my family. Those in of a bamboo crane. gal activities. But the “They use bamboo made
monthly radio pro- mer MLA Sunil Singh, his the way the North 24 the BJP are my family The deceased, later on gang of smugglers tried to levers or cranes to trans-
gramme, on Sunday. son Aditya and Garulia Parganas unit of BJP is members,” the parliamen- identified as Faridul overpower the BSF per- port the cows to
He said the new ven- municipality’s ex-chair- functioning. While the tarian said. Islam, is a resident of sonnel forcing BSF per- Bangladesh and they pull
tures have provided person Saurabh Singh — organisational base of the Meanwhile, 200 BJP Rowmari in the Kurigram sonnel to open fire. the cows over the tall
employment to 33,000 had withdrawn their nom- party is shrinking fast in youth wing members join- district of Bangladesh. “One of the smugglers barbed fence. The smug-
people. inations on Saturday. the district, the number of ed the TMC in Kharagpur DIG J.C. Nayak of the from the Bangladesh side glers were trying to use
Underlining how the The trio, relatives of self-styled leaders has area of Paschim Medini- BSF told reporters that was killed in BSF firing the same mechanism to
new industrial policy of BJP’s Barrackpore MP increased. We don’t want pur district earlier in the the incident occurred and the security person- transport the animal
the state government Arjun Singh, rejoined the to be associated with such day, claiming that they while smugglers had tried nel recovered three cows across the border. Our
has attracted invest- TMC at the Titagarh party a party,” Saurabh Singh were not getting due to transport cows from the and sharp weapons from boys challenged them, but
ments to the state, he office in the presence of told reporters. recognition despite toil- Indian side to Bangladesh the spot. The incident they didn’t stop their
said a total of 149 MoUs West Bengal minister “It was a mistake on our ing hard in support of saf- by pulling the cows over took place at Kukurmara activities rather they
have been signed under Jyotipriyo Mallick and part to have left the TMC fron party candidates in the tall barbed-wire fence. Border Out Post (BOP) at tried to overpower our
which `74,000 crores are Naihati MLA Partha to join the BJP,” added recent elections. — PTI The border guarding around 4 am on Sunday,” boys.”
proposed to be invested
generating employment
for 90,000 people.
He said the state gov- Tunnel in MP 5G spectrum’s auction
ernment has sought per-
dist caves in,
mission from the Centre
to produce ethanol from expected to be in May
paddy to utilise the
bumper production of 7 rescued, New Delhi, Feb. 13: The told PTI. Earlier, the gov-

Mumbai airport on a medical
visa from Harare, Zimbabwe,
allegedly with heroin and
methamphetamine worth
`60 crores. The Customs Air
Intelligence Unit (AIU) offi-
cers, on the basis of intelli-
gence constantly focussing
on African passengers. On
Saturday the AIU officials,
despite carrying a medical
visa, decided to check the
baggage of one suspicious
Zimbabwean lady passenger
at the Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj International Airport
on her arrival. The lady had
arrived from Harare to
2 still trapped
paddy in the state in a
proper way to manufac-
ture ethanol.
This would not only RABINDRA NATH
generate employment CHOUDHURY
for a large number of BHOPAL, FEB. 13
people but also ensure
better value of crops to Seven workers were on
the paddy farmers in the Sunday rescued while
state, he added. two others were still
Mr Baghel said the trapped after an under-
state government has construction tunnel at
identified the land plots Sleemanabad in Katni
in 110 development district in Madhya
blocks in the state for Pradesh caved in.
the establishment of The rescue operation,
food parks. launched late on
Saturday night a couple
long-awaited 5G spectrum
auction is expected to be
held in May this year if
the Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (Trai)
submits by March its rec-
ommendations on the
rules regarding the sale
process, according to a
senior official of the tele-
com department.
Communications minis-
ter Ashwini Vaishnaw
earlier this month said
the Trai has informed
that it will submit its rec-
ommendations for the 5G
auction by March and the
ernment has taken time
of 60-120 days to start the
bidding rounds in the
auction after receiving
recommendations from
Trai on spectrum auc-
tion. Mr Rajaraman said
it will take the DoT two
months to start the auc-
tion from the day it gets
recommendations from
the Trai.
According to the DoT,
5G is expected to deliver
download speed 10 times
faster than 4G services.
As per the process, DoT
seeks reference from the

2 boats seized,
Mumbai via Kigali on of hours after the tunnel department of telecom- Trai on spectrum price,
Saturday by RwandAir flight National Disaster Response Force personnel carry out a rescue operation after an caved in, was on to bring munications (DoT) is method for allocating it,
under-construction tunnel of the Bargi canal project caved in at Sleemanabad in two workers still simultaneously firming block size of spectrum,
12 Indian
WB-500. Upon examination
of her baggage, the officials Madhya Pradesh’s Katni district Sunday. — PTI trapped at a depth of 80 up other processes to hold payments terms and con-
found 7,006 grams of yel- ft, officials said. the auction at the earliest. ditions, among others.
lowish powder and 1,480
fishermen held The trapped workers “Trai has indicated that The Trai holds consulta-
grams white crystal granules.
The substance was found
hidden in two trolly bags
and two file folders. The
by Lanka Navy 50 cheetahs will be translocated are safe and oxygen sup-
ply has been arranged
for them, Narmada Val-
ley Development Autho-
they will send it (recom-
mendations) by March.
Thereafter, it will take us
a month to make a deci-
tion with the industry
and other stakeholders
and then submits recom-
mendations to the depart-
contraband is worth around
`60 crores in illegal market.
Colombo, Feb. 13: The
Sri Lankan Navy has
arrested 12 Indian fish-
ermen and seized two
from Africa to MP over 5 years rity executive engineer
Sahaj Srivastav said.
The incident occurred
when the construction of
sion around it,” telecom
secretary K. Rajaraman
ment of telecommunica-
tions. — PTI

4 killed as car rams fishing trawlers for

allegedly poaching in
RABINDRA NATH
CHOUDHURY
A high level official team
comprising forest officers
conservation and hence a
viable population of the
the tunnel being built
under the Bargi canal Dalit’s wedding targeted
into truck in Odisha the country’s territorial BHOPAL, FEB. 13 from Madhya Pradesh and species has to be main- project to carry water

Phulbani, Odisha: Four peo-

ple were killed and four oth-
ers injured when their car
rammed into a truck amid
fog in Odisha’s Kandhamal
district in the early hours of
Sunday, officials said. The
accident happened around 3
am on the Berhampur-Phul-
bani highway near Lahabadi
village when they were
returning home to Badisuga
after attending a birthday
party in Talipada. Four peo-
ple, including the driver, died
at the spot, while the injured
were admitted to a hospital.
Their conditions were stated
to be stable, officials said.
The bodies were sent
for post-mortem examina-
tion, regional transport
officer Gati Krushna
Samantroy said. — PTI
waters, an official state-
ment said on Sunday, the
third such incident
Kuno National Park in
Madhya Pradesh is going
theCentre and experts
from National
Conservation Authority
Tiger
tained. That is the reason
why around 50 cheetahs
from the African coun-
from the Narmada river
to Satna district was in
progress late on
in MP; 11 held, 27 booked
involving Indians in the to receive 50 cheetahs, (NTCA) and Wildlife tries are planned to be Saturday night. RABINDRA NATH sh Ahirwar, a Dalit, to pro-
island nation this which went extinct in Institute of India (WII) reintroduced in the park State Disaster Resp- CHOUDHURY test against use of music
month. The arrests were India in 1952, from Africa are scheduled to leave for over five years”, the forest onse Force (SDRF) per- BHOPAL, FEB. 13 system on the occasion.
made in seas north of in phases over a period of a week-long visit to South officer said. sonnel were rushed from The protest took an ugly
Talaimannar. They were five years. Africa on February 17 to On their arrival, the first Jabalpur in MP to the Eleven people were turn when the unruly
indulging in bottom Translocation of the big finalise modalities of the batch of cheetahs will be accident site to launch a arrested and 27 others people raided the mar-
trawling, the Navy said. cats from South Africa translocation of the first released into an enclosure rescue operation. booked for stopping mar- riage venue in the village
“In an operation con- and Namibia to the batch of eight-ten chee- built in the 344.86 sq km CM Shivraj Singh Cho- riage procession of a and vandalised it after
ducted in seas north of wildlife sanctuary would tahs to Kuno National park which falls in the dis- uhan has been monitor- Dalit groom in a Madhya assaulting the people par-
Talaimannar in the dark be done under a cheetah Park, the forest officer tricts of Sheopur and ing the rescue works Pradesh village in protest ticipating in the function.
hours of February 12, reintroduction project, said. Morena in MP. from Bhopal. The collec- against use of music sys- “Thirty eight people
Sri Lanka Navy man- cleared by the Centre last The team was scheduled The big cats are going to tor and SP of Katni dis- tem on the occasion, the were booked in connec-
aged to seize 2 Indian year. to visit South Africa in spend three-six months in trict were on the spot to police said on Sunday. tion with the incident.
trawlers with 12 Indian In the first phase, eight- November last year. But, the enclosure to acclima- oversee the rescue The incident took place Eleven of them have been
fishermen while poach- ten cheetahs are sched- the visit was rescheduled tise themselves to the new works. in Kachnaria village in arrested so far,” Rajgarh
ing in Sri Lankan uled to be trans-located to February 17 owing to conditions. Work on the 11.95 km- Rajgarh district in the district superintendent of
waters,” it said. from South Africa and resurgence of coron- The enclosure has been long tunnel began in intervening night of police Padip Sharma said.
This was the third Namibia in March-April avirus cases during the made predator-proof. 2008 and the project was Saturday and Sunday. Three of the 38 accused
arrest of the Indian fish- this year, a spokesman of third wave. Lions, leopards and hye- scheduled to be complet- According to the police, were found to be holders
ermen in the Sri Lankan the state forest depart- “The objective of rein- nas are known to be pred- ed in 2011. However, only a group of local villagers of gun licences. A process
waters during this ment disclosed to this troduction of cheetahs in ators of cheetahs, particu- half of the tunnel could stopped the marriage pro- has been initiated to can-
month. — PTI newspaper on Sunday. Kuno National Park is larly their cubs. be constructed so far. cession of the groom Raje- cel their licence.

Rural polls: MLA’s vehicle

U’khand, Goa go to
booths today
FROM PG 1
In the 70-member Assembly,
36 is the majority mark. There
are 22 seats in the Garhwal
region, 20 in Kumaon and
28 in the plains, or Maidan.
In the 2017 Assembly elec-
tion, the BJP won 57 seats
and the Congress 11. It was
the highest number of
seats any party won after
the state’s formation.
The three repealed far m
laws will be a major factor
in the plains as the
protests against these laws
also took place in this
region. In a bid to buttress
his commitment to the
state, Chief Minister
Pushkar Dhami has
announced his plans to
implement a uniform civil
code if voted to power, to
which the Cong ress has
said that he needs “sound
le gal advice”. The
Cong ress has promised
that if it wins, four lakh
youths will get jobs, a gas
cylinder will cost less than
Rs 500 and five lakh poor
households will get Rs
40,000 per year.
The 40-member Goa
Assembly is seeing a multi-
cor nered contest. In the
last five years alone, 27 out
of 40 state legislators in
Goa have switched parties.
Party-hopping after the
results is a serious con-
cer n of the central leader-
ships of all parties. The
main issues in this elec-
tion include the restart of
mining, jobs and boosting
tourism. At least six
Assembly seats have been
affected directly and indi-
rectly by the ban on min-
ing in the state, and the
issue may decide the fate
of many candidates. CM
Pramod Sawant’s con-
stituency, too, is affected
by the issue. The BJP has
pledged that it will restart
mining within six months
of coming to power.
The Cong ress and the
AAP have also promised
sustainable mining. The
Christian votes in the state
have been a challenge for
the BJP, especially in the
Salcete belt that has eight
constituencies and a As per reports, Randhari
Christian population of
almost 40 per cent.
However, the BJP is also
giving tickets to influen-
tial Christians who have
joined the BJP from the
Cong ress. The BJP has
given tickets to 12
Christian candidates.
stacked with saris seized
AKSHAYA KUMAR
SAHOO
BHUBANESWAR, FEB. 13
Odisha’s Nabarangpur
district administration on
Sunday seized a vehicle of
ruling Biju Janata Dal
(BJD) MLA Manohar
Randhari for stacking
saris, towels and shawls to
allegedly distribute
among the voters ahead of
the forthcoming three-tier
rural polls.
Local Dabugaon tehsil-
dar Jogeswar Bhoi and the
block election officer
seized the vehicle of the
Dabugaon MLA and
brought it to the
Papadahandi police sta-
tion based on the com-
plaint filed by former
Congress MLA Bhujabala
Majhi and his daughter
Lipika Majhi.
As many as 284 saris, 500
towels and 162 shawls
were seized from the vehi-
cle in presence of
Randhari.
was trying to influence the
voters by allegedly distrib-
uting the saris, towels and
shawls among people at
Randagunda village near
Workers pay tribute to industrialist Rahul Bajaj, who died at Ruby Hospital in Pune on Saturday, aged 83, at the Nabarangpur town.
Demanding seizure of
Bajaj Auto manufacturing facility at Akurdi, on Pune’s outskirts, on Sunday. His funeral was held with full state hon-
the vehicle and strict
ours in Pune later on Sunday, with the last rites performed by his sons Rajeev and Sanjiv. — PTI
action against Randhari,
Bhujabala and Lipika did-
n’t let the MLA’s vehicle
go. Tension escalated in
the area following the inci-
dent leading to a face-off
between both the
parties.
Later, the father-daugh-
ter duo filed a written
complaint in Papadahandi
police station.
“We have seized the vehi-
cle in which the sarees and
towels were stacked.
Necessary actions will be
taken as per the election
code of conduct following
an inquiry,” said tehsildar
Bhoi.
Bhujabala and his sup-
porters also demanded
stringent action against
Randhari. “Randhari was
found distributing sarees
and towels to influence the
voters. His vehicle has
been seized and we
demand stringent action
against him,” said
Bhujabala. On the other
hand, Randhari pleaded
innocence and said that
the opposition is trying to
politicise the issue.
“I used to carry clothes
in my vehicle and distrib-
ute them among people on
various social occasions.
Opposition is trying to get
advantage by politicising
the issue during election
time,” said Randhari.
 EDIT
DECCAN CHRONICLE | MONDAY | 14 FEBRUARY 2022 | COIMBATORE
pg 6

Subhani

14 FEBRUARY 2022

By keeping off Ukraine,

India hits the right note
I
t is a positive sign that, mindful of its interests, India refrained from endors-
ing the US-led Western position on Ukraine at the first meeting of the Quad for-
eign ministers in Melbourne last Friday. As a consequence, the joint state-
ment that was issued altogether skipped any mention of the crisis in Ukraine
although the senior officials of the US, Australia and Japan expressed themselves
strongly against Moscow at the confabulation.
External affairs minister S. Jaishankar, quizzed by the media about the Indian
position, reminded all concerned that this had been made clear at the January 31
meeting of the UN Security Council. At this forum, called to discuss a procedural
issue in the Ukraine context, New Delhi took the view that the security interests
of all countries ought to be taken into consideration.
This did not necessarily please pro-West hawks who might wish India to be in
with the US and its allies on all matters of international politics, irrespective of the
merits of the case or how the dice will turn for India’s interests. India has an old
security relationship with Moscow in terms of arms purchase, civil nuclear ener-
gy cooperation, and close coordination on important political issues, most notably
Kashmir. To suit its regional concerns, Russia has indeed warmed up to Pakistan
and China at times, discomfiting India somewhat, much as New Delhi may have
shown its irritation when the Soviet troops invaded
Although a close Afghanistan.
ally of China at However, in view of the larger picture, neither side has
the present rocked the boat. Both have taken care to buffer their
juncture, Russia bilateral dynamics from being torpedoed by the larger
play on the international chessboard. India’s progres-
did not hold its sively warming ties with the United States since the late
Will BJP’s ‘before’ & ‘after’ UP ELECTIONS
LETTERS

2017 line deliver UP 2022?

hand in selling 1990s — its participation in the Quad is a reflection of this It appears as if the
the S-400 system key reality — have not stopped New Delhi from buying S- BJP is in for a heavy
to India 400 Triumf missiles from Russia in the face of the latent
threat of US sanctions. beating in the UP
Also, in its dealings with Russia, India cannot but fac- elections. People have
tor in the regional situation as defined by Afghanistan and New Delhi’s ties with The next largest eventually electorally har-
Central Asia as well as China, with which India’s relationship is far from easy. cluster of the ness this sentiment to the suffered enough
Although a close ally of China at the present juncture, Russia did not hold its hand
in selling the S-400 system to India. Looking at the overall picture it can hardly Nilanjan failures-successes
BJP’s favour. It is the con-
sistent strategy of fostering
under the dictatorial
rule of Adityanath
juxtapositions listed
serve India’s interest to alienate Russia, in the process send it fully into the
Chinese camp in the emerging world scenario. The ineluctable picture of the pre- Mukhopadhyay in the handbill are in
hatred that has resulted in
the dangerous situation of which has witnessed
sent day is that plurilateral relationships are for real. the realm of crime, proverbially spawning a
On a question such as Ukraine, India’s counsel of peace and diplomacy was thousand Nathuram promotion of only
somewhat delayed, but it came eventually. Non-confrontational postures between criminals and Godse-like characters. communalism, reli-
major powers serve the interests of all regions in the world. Indeed, this has been criminality, where Despite showcasing the gious fanaticism and

B
India’s fundamental message and the continuing theme of its foreign policy since y virtue of being a
it attained independence, although there have been hiccups along the way and voter in Uttar
interregnums of short-sightedness. Pradesh, a handbill
Being in the Quad is important for India and for the other three countries as well was delivered
that make up the non-military grouping. And just as the other countries spoke along with the day’s news-
their mind on Ukraine at the Melbourne meet, India did too. This makes for a papers. It was, from the
healthy relationship. It is good to keep in mind that an identity of interest across BJP’s nominee, a sitting
the board is not the reason for the formation of the Quad. Mr Jaishankar put it well MLA who won with one of
when he said that the grouping was “for something, and not against anybody”. the largest vote margins in
That is a sensible working proposition. 2017. No rival has under-
taken this exercise yet,
indicating either that they
have given up the fight, or
Farewell, Hamara Bajaj presumed that our middle-
class locality is unlikely to
vote for them. Despite
on them and to match such
“appeasement”, the BJP
government has construct-
ed a lavish Kailash Man-
sarover Bhavan, despite
the fact that the pilgrimage
is unlikely this year too
after the Covid-19 pandem-
ic led to the yatra’s cancel-
lation from 2020 onwards.
In the leaflet, of the listed
“achievements”, most are
in the sphere of religious
(cultural) counter-balanc-
ing actions: floral showers
on Kanwar Yatras in place
the dog-whistle links
them to Muslims and
their associates...
narrative in the party’s
manifesto and epitomises
the party’s thrust in trying
to retain the state, that is
considered by most as cen-
tral to the Prime Minister’s
campaign for the next Lok
Sabha elections in 2024.
From the time the party’s
three major flag-bearers —
Narendra Modi, Union
state police force’s purport-
ed “efficiency”, the attack
on AIMIM chief Asaduddin
Owaisi is a pointer to a
grave threat to India’s
internal security. The
statements of the accused
point to the emerging gun-
culture with a majoritari-
an thrust in the country
and the absence of wide-
spread condemnation from
the BJP leadership will
only encourage more
Sachin Sharmas and
Shubhams to express their
minority bashing and
no development in
any sector. He has
indulged in blatantly
advocating hatred
among the people in
the name of religion
and his latest com-
ments during the
election campaign
bear witness to this.

L
egend has it that when the emperor of a war-ravaged and bankrupt France being the incumbent, the of bans, Deepotsav in Ayod- home minister, Amit Shah rage and fury at provoca- His 80 /20 talk and
had organised a meeting with his Controller-General of Finances and a group “marketing” flier with the hya and the Maha Kumbh and UP chief minister Yogi tive statements by leaders
of businessmen, and asked them how government could help businesses BJP candidate’s gloat-filled in Prayagraj as against the Adityanath — blew the like Mr Owaisi, not with that UP will turn a
grow, Monsieur Le Gendre (possibly a play on Legendre, an urban tale), screamed and photo-shopped picture Saifai Mahotsav, official bugle in autumn last year, words or action but by Jammu and Kashmir,
his response, “laissez-faire” (let us free, or leave us alone). prioritised serving a Navratri celebrations and the emphasis was on emptying a few rounds of
Most businessmen across the world since then, and certainly Indian business reminder to voters of the not Iftar parties and finally reminding voters of the bullets. The absence of Kerala or West Bengal
folks since Independence, have not had similar courage, or a moral fabric as “before 2017” era and not bhajans over loudspeakers alleged criminals-Muslims- remorse from any senior if the opposition is
Legendre. With rare exceptions. the “after 2017” section. It every morning and even- Yadavs-police nexus. BJP leaders, even before voted to power are a
Such an intrepid, peerless man was Rahul Bajaj, Padma Bhushan, chairman mirrored the incessant ing in place of the ban pre- Earlier too, several law- the hate speeches at the so-
emeritus of the Bajaj Group, made up of metal sterner and stronger than was used “before 2014” refrain of the viously. The next largest and-order measures, for called Dharam Sansad venomous outcry
to fabricate India’s favourite two-wheeler, the scooter the poor and middle-class BJP’s un-harmonic orches- cluster of the failures-suc- instance the formation of faded from public memory, coming from a Chief
aspired for, happy to collectively croon their desire in the form of a jingle… hama- tra conducted by Prime cesses juxtapositions are in “anti-Romeo squads” and is a marker to the thin ice
ra bajaj. Minister Narendra Modi the realm of crime, crimi- calls for “thok do” (shoot) that we are all walking on. Minister who has to
Maybe being the grandson of a freedom fighter and being born nearly a decade with teleprompters in nals and criminality, had a clear majoritarian That hate begets hate is a treat all citizens
before Independence firmed his resolve to never be afraid to speak the truth. He front. The difference being where the dog-whistle orientation. truism but the BJP leader- equal. It is under-
demonstrated, with his life work as an example, how true nationalism is about that while the party’s links them to Muslims and When the BJP made its ship has consistently
nation building, creating jobs and wealth for lakhs of people, and bettering lives. national campaign stresses their associates — official political advent in Uttar looked the other way. With standable that
In a country viscerally filled with suspicion and hatred for the wealthy, a hate on the previous seven protection for goondas Pradesh, in the 1980s and the stakes high in UP for Adityanath has pre-
fuelled by movies and every slice of cultural product programmed to portraying decades or so as being a replaced with a tenure 1990s, the articulate leader- being part of the first round
profit-seeking as evil, it was a rare tribute of the people of India, through its social- period of zero or insignifi- when they were on the run ship then coined the idea of of polls after the ferocity of ferred this card to
ist licence raj era, that they loved a businessman enough to own him, and the cant achievement, this BJP and instead of cases reverse polarisation in the Covid-19 pandemic and corner votes as he has
scooter he made. aspirant’s handout depicts against the criminals being seats where Muslims were the collapse of governance
Most nations become social furnaces in which we scorch and roast wealth cre- the years before 2017 as withdrawn by the govern- present in large numbers. during last year’s second
no other good perfor-
ators, making them feel guilty for the jobs and opportunities they create, for the when lawlessness was ram- ment, and their properties By claiming they were con- wave and the incapacity of mance to boast of.
products and service they provide — even as the least productive are loudest, cre- pant and hooligans stealth- are being “bulldozed”. solidating against the BJP, the Central and state gov- Tharcius S. Fernando,
ating statues and naming cities after themselves. It is a guilt business folks unde- ily pounced on sisters- The development spiel unabashedly presented as ernments to put the person-
servingly choose to suffer. daughters, traders and finds little mention in the being committed to fur- al economies of devastated Chennai
In the rarest of cases, they stand up erect, bereft of fear or guilt, and speak back, anyone seeking their legal pamphlet, but even the thering Hindu interests, its citizens back on track, the
asking questions, naming truths. Defying laws of economics, when the demand for
such voices was highest, its rare supply of one chose to leave. Goodbye, legend
entitlements. The 15-point
list of blemishes of the pre-
three “feats” listed are con-
tentious. Like, for instance,
leaders beseeched the com-
munity to line up behind
rest of the campaign will be
indicative of the inter-com- WORLD RADIO DAY
Bajaj, our own Bajaj. BJP period, (essentially the claim that potholed the party en masse to munity relationship in By its very nature, radio shapes
under the Samajwadi roads have been replaced demonstrate the might of future. Going by the pam- our lives, informing and even
Party and Bahujan Samaj by expressways, flyovers “awakened” Hindus. Going phlet that came along with uniting us. By bringing togeth-
DECCAN CHRONICLE Party) is aimed at remind- and elevated corridors. As one step forward, by juxta- the day’s news, the por- er people and communities it
ing people of the “horror a resident of UP, I can testi- posing the Haj House with tents are not encouraging, can help usher in positive
KAUSHIK MITTER K. SUDHAKAR shows” previously, while fy that the quality of roads, Kailash Mansarovar Bhav- but one hopes good sense change. One hopes that in a
Editor Printer & Publisher the post-March 2017 phase by and large, remain the an and Iftar parties with prevails on the BJP leader- world with alternative medi-
R. MOHAN ship and they douse the
Resident Editor is depicted as an era of same. Likewise, many fly- official Navratri celebra- ums of communication, radio
DECCAN CHRONICLE offices are located at: golden contrasts. Women overs and the 10 km-plus tions, the BJP has graduat- raging flame they have can still find the valuable space
Chennai: SP 3 Developed Plot, Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai 600032. Phones: (044) 22254747, and girls are “not scared elevated corridor in the ed to reverse-appeasement. stoked in millions of to help serve as a platform for
22254748 now, but offenders are the district were started dur- From when the trishul or hearts. dialogue and democratic debate
Coimbatore: 77 Vivekananda Road, Ramnagar, Coimbatore 641009. Phone: (0422) 2231255, 2231256
Hyderabad: 36, Sarojini Devi Road, Secunderabad 500 003. Phone: (040) 27803930-4. Fax: (040) ones looking for avenues to ing the “dark” days. trident became the symbol and encourage listeners to
27805256. slink away”. While the idol The BJP candidate did of demonstrating Hindu The writer is an author think of forward-looking action.
Visakhapatnam: Survey No. 1/3A Beach Road, Near Kailasagiri Ropeway, Sector-9 MVP Colony, of Ram Lalla was beneath a not seek votes on the assertiveness in the course and journalist based in Perhaps All India Radio, which
Visakhapatnam - 530 017. Phones: (0891) 2552333/2552334, Fax (0891) 2755285 tent previously, a grand basis of improving of the Ram Janmabhoomi Delhi-NCR. His latest book has been serving the masses in
Vijayawada: No. C 3 & 4, Patamata, Industrial Estate, Auto Nagar, Vijayawada (A.P.). Phones: (0866) agitation, the BJP’s politi- is The Demolition and the
2555284/ 2555287, Fax (0866) 2555234 temple for the deity is com- people’s livelihood and for the fields of education, informa-
Rajahmundry: Vemagiri, Dhawleswaram Rd, Rajahmundry 533125. Phones: (0883) 2417208, 2417618 ing up now. Previously, efficient tackling of the cal campaign has been Verdict: Ayodhya and the tion and entertainment with
Anantapur: Thapovan Colony, Bangalore Bye-Pass Road, Anantapur 515004. Phones: (08554) 276903, our district had a Haj health and economic crises multi-pronged. However, Project to Reconfigure distinction, can take the lead in
Fax: 08554-276904 House to enable the Haj- triggered by the Covid-19 the central prong has been India, and he’s also the this.
Nellore: Survey No. 527/2, Burranpur Village, Venkatachalam (M), Chemudugunta Panchayat, Nellore. always to poke at pre-exist- author of Narendra Modi:
Phone: (0861) 2348581/ 82, Telefax (0861) 2348580 bound to stay while com- pandemic. T.S.Karthik ,
Karimnagar: Survey No. 1341, Vavilalapally Colony, Jagityala Road, Karimnagar 505 001. pleting last-minute proce- The poll plank of the BJP ing religious prejudice of The Man, The Times. He Chennai
Phone: (0878 ) 2228908; Telefax (0878) 2220433 dures before emplaning for candidate in our con- Hindus against Muslims, tweets at @NilanjanUdwin.
Saudi Arabia. To be one up stituency has a continuing convert this into fear and

H
ow many of us have left our laptops and
iPads in taxis or at airports or at random
places and then hoped madly that they
would miraculously be returned?
It is highly unlikely of course, but it did happen
Kishwar Desai to us. While taking a taxi one day, Meghnad found
he had come home without his precious iPad
London Diary which has many books and ideas loaded onto it,
none of which were saved anywhere.
There is also a fixed system of rewards which
the officer told us about — and we gave a small
“reward” to the taxi driver who will receive it in
the proper fashion. (You are not permitted to give
large rewards through this system.) Because peo-
ple leave things so frequently in London black
cabs, the methodology is very smoothly
implemented.
Having the books and ideas stored in the iPad
ulous immersive experience. You feel the sky is
raining sunflowers — and all the paintings mirac-
ulously seem alive. It is a fascinating exhibition
and more so because it gives us an entirely differ-
ent perspective of the artist’s works. Re-imagined
museums should also have re-imagined exhibits.
There is no point having digital displays if they do
not add to the viewer experience.
which of course is impossible in such a large force.
The home secretary, Priti Patel, was none too
pleased at the sudden departure of the top cop, but
she had no choice.
And for many of us, it was a peculiar drama —
because on the one side you had a mayor of
Pakistani origin and and, on the other, a home sec-
retary of Indian origin ultimately sacking a white
British head of police. It is astonishing how the

So there was sorrow and consternation all
around. But surprisingly, he was optimistic. This
is because of the legendary honesty of the “Black
Cab” driver in London. If the black cab driver had
back again, obviously means the world to any
author. And so Meghnad wanted to express his
gratitude to the cab driver in some other way as
well. He has, therefore, invited the driver and his
A
nd the strangest thing happened to the
police commissioner of the legendary
Metropolitan Police Force. Having started
this column with a positive story of how the police
balance of power has shifted!
But it was also a sad moment, because if a
woman cannot get rid of misogyny within a police
force who can ultimately do so?

Cabbie returns found it, said Meghnad confidently, he will defi-

nitely return it. However, when nothing happened
for a few days — we had no choice than to head for
wife to the House of Lords for lunch! All is well
that ends well!
service can work, let me end it with a negative
note. The head of the police force Dame Cressida
Dick represented many things: she was a woman
However, Dame Cressida has stayed on till she
can conclude the ongoing “Partygate”
investigation!

Meghnad ‘ideas’; an Apple store to buy a new iPad. As luck would

have it, before we reached the store a message
came from the driver — he had managed to track
Meghnad down and sent his number with a note
M
eanwhile, delivering the keynote address
on the global summit for “Re-imagining
Museums in India “ for the ministry of
culture (Government of India) has had its benefits
and she was gay. There was a lot of hope when she
was appointed commissioner in 2017. It was
thought that many aspects of the doughty
Scotland Yard, once the pinnacle of professional- A
nd yes, Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister,
is still at Number 10 Downing Street, but
has been handed a list of questions to

sexism finally that he had left the iPad at Charing Cross police
station and we should rush there to pick it up, oth-
erwise it would go into the lost and found depart-
for me. The most important being that I felt I must
go out now, post Covid, and see how museums are
managing. While there are some wonderful exhi-
ism, would improve. But unfortunately she
resigned because she was accused of, strangely,
not being able to rid of sexism, racism and homo-
answer by the Metropolitan police. And of course,
if the Ukraine-Russia war breaks out — many say
the PM may have got away again!

claims Cressida ment somewhere else entirely.

Thrilled beyond belief, we headed for the station,
and found the system of collection of lost property
very orderly and neat. The officer on duty imme-
diately found the iPad, neatly sealed in a plastic
bag, and handed it over to Meghnad.
bitions ongoing such as on Beatrix Potter and her
works, I could not but help being drawn to the Van
Gogh virtual museum or exhibition which has
been winning accolades everywhere. Set in over
20,000 square feet — it has 360 views of the artist’s
paintings — with virtual reality giving you a fab-
phobia within the police force — and especially at
the Charing Cross police station about whom I
have written such glowing words above.
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan had left her
Kishwar Desai is a prize-winning author and
her latest book is The Longest Kiss: The Life And
Times of Devika Rani. She is also the chair of the
with little option than to quit, when he put her on trust that set up the world’s first Partition
notice to change things around within weeks, Museum in Amritsar.
 NATION
DECCAN CHRONICLE | MONDAY | 14 FEBRUARY 2022 | COIMBATORE
pg 7

SHORT TAKES ■ Parents apprehensive of sending unvaccinated kids to schools

Delhi police’s ‘pink booth’ at
DU to conduct
workshop on Delhi schools to reopen for Janpath market earns praise
Cops step up social media
nursery to Class 8 today
managing stress DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, FEB. 13

game to connect with public

New Delhi: Delhi University
will conduct a four-week
training programme for its
officials on managing stress,
developing motivation and
acquiring leadership skills,
according to a senior offi-
cial.Assistant registrars and
administrative officials of the
university and its affiliated
colleges can take part in the
programme beginning
February 21. Besides stress
management, the officials
will be trained on handling
financial matters such as
budgets and audits, ranking
and administrative subjects
related to promotions and
pension, etc. “We will call
various speakers to apprise
the officers of various
aspects.... This four-week
programme is for upgrading
their skills and knowledge
and is for Group A officers,”
said the senior university
official. He said the speakers
will also talk about handling
stress. “During these testing
times we also want to
apprise the officers about
handling stress. Everyone
faces stress be it due to
office work or due to issues
at home and it is important
to talk about how to tackle
it,” he said. The registration
for the training programme
closed on Saturday. It is free
for Group A officers while
other participants will have
to pay a registration fee of
`3,000. — PTI
2nd FIR lodged in
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, FEB. 13
Schools in the national
capital are set to reopen
for nursery classes to
class 8 from Monday even
as few parents continue to
be concerned while few
others scramble for logis-
tics such as transporta-
tion. Following a pro-
longed closure in view of
Covid-19, schools
reopened for classes 9 to
12 on February 7.
According to Aparajita
Gautam, president of
Delhi Parents
Association, many par-
ents are apprehensive
about sending their jun-
ior class children to
schools as they are not
vaccinated yet. “Hence,
they will opt to wait and
watch,” she said.
Anil Bhati, parent of a 7-
year-old said: “I would
want to send my child but
schools have not started
transportation yet and I
am scrambling to make
other logistic arrange-
ments. When schools
reopen, the government
should also order resump-
tion of transportation
services.”
Schools in the city were
briefly reopened before
being closed again on
December 28 last year in
view of the third wave of
◗ USING ALL the entry
and exit gates, staggered
lunch breaks, adequate
thermal scanning and
sanitisation of the prem-
ises are some of the
guidelines laid down by
the Delhi Disaster
Management Authority
for the reopening of
schools.
◗ Also, teachers are
required to counsel the
students and prepare
them for teaching and
learning activities,
besides providing emo-
tional support, so that
they adjust to the new
normal.
their infrastructure, keep-
ing in mind Covid proto-
cols.
“Parents, especially
whose wards are in junior
classes, are still apprehen-
sive. We sent out consent
forms, but the response is
not very good. We are now
planning to hold coun-
selling sessions for par-
ents,” said the principal of
a top private school.
Using all the entry and
exit gates, staggered
lunch breaks, adequate
thermal scanning and
sanitisation of the prem-
ises are some of the guide-
lines laid down by the
Delhi adds 804 Covid cases,
12 deaths; positivity 1.50%
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, FEB. 13
Delhi on Sunday report-
ed 804 fresh Covid-19
cases and 12 more deaths
due to the viral disease,
while the positivity rate
declined further to 1.50
per cent, according to
data shared by the city
health department.
With this, the national
capital’s caseload
increased to 18,51,320 and
the death toll climbed to
26,072, the latest bulletin
showed.
A total of 53,719 Covid-
19 tests were conducted
in the city the previous
day, it said.
Delhi on Saturday
reported 920 Covid-19
cases with a positivity
rate of 1.68 per cent and
13 deaths.
The number of daily
cases in Delhi has been
on the decline after
touching the record high
of 28,867 on January 13.
The city had recorded a
positivity rate of 30.6 per
cent on January 14, the
highest during the latest
wave of the pandemic.
It took just 10 days for
daily cases to drop below
the 10,000-mark.
The Delhi Disaster
Management Authority
(DDMA) has directed
health officials and dis-
trict magistrates to
ensure the Centre's
revised Covid-19 guide-
lines for international
arrivals are followed at
the IGI Airport from
Monday. The ministry of
health & family welfare
on February 10 released
detailed guidelines for
international arrivals at
airports and seaports in
the country, doing away
with the quarantine pro-
vision.
According to the guide-
lines, all the passengers
will show self-declara-
tion form on arrival at
the airport. The passen-
gers found to be sympto-
matic during screening
will be immediately iso-
lated and taken to med-
ical facility under health
protocol. If tested posi-
tive, their contacts will
be identified and man-
aged as per laid down
protocol.
The new Delhi Police ‘pink
booth’ at the popular
Janpath market, staffed by
female personnel to help
women in distress, has
earned praise from shop-
pers and hawkers alike and
the demand is now growing
for similar kiosks in other
shopping centres.In less
than a week of its establish-
ment, the ‘pink booth’ has
instilled a sense of security
in women shoppers and
hawkers.
Arushi Prakash, who
works in a private company
in the national capital, said,
“I feel that if similar com-
plaints are coming on regu-
lar basis, then the police
should work to address the
matter. The issues related to
women should be resolved
as the section is very vul-
nerable. I have not gone to
other shopping places for a
year and if no such booth is
there, the authorities
should consider setting up
such kiosks there as well.”
The ‘pink booth’ at
Janpath market under
Connaught Place police sta-
tion was inaugurated by
joint commissioner of
New Delhi, Feb. 13: From
making memes using clips
from popular Bollywood
movies to Instagram reels
to conducting interactive
sessions online, the Delhi
police is tapping into the
latest social media trends
to connect with the public,
spread awareness about
cyber and financial crimes,
and showcase its citizen-
centric initiatives.
Behind this creative work
is the Delhi Police’s Social
Media Centre, which is
police (New Delhi Range)
A.K. Singh on Tuesday.
According to the police,
the aim is to facilitate com-
plainants, especially
women and girls, by provid-
ing them instantaneous
relief in case of any type of
need and by making women
staff available to them at
the market.
Naina Singh, a school-
teacher, said: “After this ini-
tiative, women, not only
customers but hawkers
also, will obviously feel
supervised by the Special
Branch unit. The Social
Media Centre team com-
prises youngsters from cre-
ative and technical back-
grounds. None of them is
aged above 35, officials said.
The team keeps track of
social media trends, watch-
es the latest Bollywood
movies and follows the
news to be able to create
engaging content. It also
analyses the public feed-
back to its work, they said.
— PTI
safer. Women have very
strong instinct, they can
easily identify if they are
uncomfortable with some-
one. If somebody is making
her uncomfortable, in gen-
eral scenario, she ignores.
However, if she knows that
there is police nearby, she
can take the issue to them in
the form of complaint, etc.”
Sub-inspector Lovey
Priyanka is in charge of the
‘pink booth’ at Janpath
market and is assisted by
two constables.

Gurgaon building the coronavirus driven by

collapse case
Gurgaon: The Gurgaon police
on Sunday lodged a second
FIR in the incident involving
the partial collapse of a high-
rise building here, booking
all managing directors of the
realty firm Chintel India and
its group and associate com-
panies, besides several oth-
ers, an official said.The inci-
dent involving the sequential
collapse of flat roofs from
its Omicron variant.
While the Centre has
dropped the clause that
mandated parental con-
sent for students to physi-
cally attend classes from
its guidelines, the Delhi
government has decided
to continue with the
clause. The schools are,
however, free to decide on
the number of students
they want to accommo-
date based on
Delhi
Management Authority
Disaster Communication through
text messages and e-mails
head of Shri Ram Wonder
Years School in Rohini.
for the reopening of
schools.
is disseminated to the par-
ents. We are planning to
“We will be resuming
the physical classes for
Also, teachers are take learning outside the primary and secondary
required to counsel the classes in ventilated areas school students
students and prepare keeping the weather in tomorrow. The classes
them for teaching and mind, adapting instruc- will be held in hybrid
learning activities, tions and curriculum mode. Parents and stu-
besides providing emo- using outdoor equipment dents are enthusiastic and
tional support, so that and nature, enhancing excited about the reopen-
they adjust to the new experiences with physical ing of the school,” said
normal. activity outdoors — gross Ritu Mehta, principal of
“We are reopening in a motor, sports and outdoor Apeejay School, Prime Minister Narendra Modi with former PM of Kenya Raila Amolo Odinga during their
phased manner. games,” said Shubhi Soni, Panchsheel Park. meeting in New Delhi on Sunday. — PTI

`50L offer for 13-yr-old girl’s 12 accidental vehicles damaged as

the sixth to ground floor in
the 18-storied tower of the
Chintel Paradiso Housing
Complex in sector 109 of

app to fight bullying in schools fire breaks out in police godown

Gurugram on Thursday had
led to the killing of two
women living in two lower
floor flats died and critical
injuries to a man. The
accused who were named in
the FIR included firm’s MD
Ashok Solomon besides Ajay
Sahni, Kunwar Khaliqe
Ahmad, Arvind Kumar Gupta
and Asish Jaiswal, all head-
ing various group and associ-
ate companies of the firm,
the official said. — PTI
Elderly woman
killed by man as
she resists robbery
New Delhi: A 72-year-old
woman was allegedly killed by
a man who broke into her tent
to commit theft, police said on
Sunday. The accused,
Rajender Chauhan (40), has
been arrested. He lived with
his wife and a friend near the
victim’s place, they said. The
incident took place on Friday
under the RTR flyover in the
South Campus area of south-
west Delhi, police said. The
woman, along with her family,
lived in a tent under the fly-
over, they said. The accused
suspected that the woman
was hiding cash and decided
to rob her of it. When he
entered the tent, the woman
caught hold of him and start-
ed shouting. The man killed
her and ran away with the
cash. On reaching the spot,
police found that the victim
had grievous injuries on her
neck and face. She was rushed
to a nearby hospital but was
declared brought dead, the
police said. — PTI
Gurgaon, Feb. 13: The
sight of a fellow student
being mocked during a
school function five years
ago is etched deep in
Anoushka Jolly’s memo-
ries. But for this 13-year-
old, that incident became
the push to start a social
initiative to stop bullying
and provide a platform for
students as wells as par-
ents to report anonymous-
ly. The ‘Anti Bullying
Squad (ABS)’, with help
from educational institu-
tions, social organisations
and experts, has positive-
ly impacted over 2,000 stu-
dents from over 100
schools and universities,
said Jolly as she spoke
about the digital platform,
she formed three years
ago.
The Class 8 student has
also come up with a
mobile application called
‘Kavach’ and it allows stu-
dents and parents to
report incidents of bully-
ing anonymously, giving
opportunity to schools
and counsellors to tactful-
ly intervene and take
action.
The incident of the girl
being bullied “got regis-
tered in my memory and I
still cannot forget her
face”, she was terrified
and felt helpless, said
Jolly, who was nine years
old then.
“I was attending the
school annual day when
my friends decided to
bully the six-year-old girl
who they found annoying.
They walked up to her and
started calling her names
and laughed at her,” she
said. “Soon, I realised how
common the problem is
and saw many other chil-
dren of my age being vic-
tims of bullying and los-
ing confidence,” said Jolly
whose social initiative not
only made her the
youngest contestant to
pitch her entrepreneurial
idea on TV reality show
Shark Tank India but also
landed her a funding offer
of `50 lakh.
The Pathways School,
Gurgaon, student wants
to build a strong network
of anti-bullying ambassa-
dors, who will track the
progress of those impact-
ed directly or indirectly
through the platform and
application. “I have been
running the ABS digital
platform for over three
years with an aim of
spreading awareness
about bullying which
leaves many scarred and
desolated. The platform
acts as a community
where specialists come
together to organise one-
on-one sessions in schools
against bullying,” Jolly
told PTI.
The platform also allows
people to better under-
stand bullying and its con-
sequences, along with tak-
ing a pledge to prevent the
menace, she said, adding
that it also sells anti-bully-
ing merchandise.
“However, during the
process, I realised that
most of these incidents do
not get reported and
hence, do not get resolved.
So, I came up with an idea
of creating a bullying
reporting mobile app
‘Kavach’ to anonymously
report incidents,” Jolly
said.
“The idea was well
received by judges of
(Shark Tank), two of
whom even stepped for-
ward to invest in my app
at `50 lakh in valuation to
help me widen its scale
and reach,” she said.
Shark Tank India is the
indigenous version of
Shark Tank, a global
entrepreneurial reality
show. In India, the show is
currently running its first
season and has selected
198 candidates out of
50,000 applications
The investors in Jolly’s
idea are Anupam Mittal,
founder and CEO of
People Group
(Shaadi.com) and Aman
Gupta, co-founder of
boAt.
Daughter of a chartered
accountant and an entre-
preneur, Jolly has plans to
take her entrepreneurial
journey forward.
However, she is yet to
decide the subjects she
would like to study once
she finishes school.
— PTI
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, FEB. 13
At least 12 accidental
vehicles were damaged
when a major fire broke
out at a police godown in
southwest Delhi’s
Sagarpur on Sunday,
police said.
A call regarding a blaze
at a police godown was
received at the control
room of the Delhi Fire
Service at 12.42 pm, fol-
lowing which eight fire
tenders were rushed to
the site, a Fire Service
official said.
According to the police,
Woman in wheelchair claims
Gurgaon pub denied entry
Gurgaon, Feb. 13: A dif-
ferently abled woman has
accused a popular pub in
Gurgaon’s Cyber Hub of
denying her entry as she
was wheelchair-bound, a
charge refuted by the club
management.
With Srishty Pandey’s
tweet narrating her
ordeal being shared wide-
ly on social media, the
manager of Raasta pub,
B. Madhav, claimed the
woman was not denied
entry but was stopped
from going to the dance
head constable Prahlad
noticed the fire in a cen-
tralised pit used for keep-
ing accidental vehicles
and chassis of southwest
district.
He immediately called
the control room, follow-
ing which fire tenders
were called to the spot, a
senior police officer said.
Deputy Commissioner
of Police (southwest)
Gaurav Sharma said
there were 300-400 four-
wheeler accidental cases
in the godown and of
them 10 to 12 car chassis
caught fire.
Some chassis of two-
floor as it was crowded
and her wheelchair
could have caused an acci-
dent.
“I went to @raastagur-
gaon with my best friend
and her fam last night.
This was one of my first
outings in so long and I
wanted to have fun.
Bhaiya (my friend’s elder
brother) asked for a table
for four. The staff at the
desk ignored him twice,”
Ms Pandey said in a
series of tweets on
Saturday.
wheelers also got dam-
aged in the blaze, he
added.
However, the fire depart-
ment officials claimed
that the blaze damaged
around 250 two-wheelers
and 100 four-wheelers in
the godown.
There were no records
of the registration num-
ber of vehicles in the
godown, they alleged.
The DCP said, “The
exact number of vehicles
damaged will be tallied
from the list and records
of concerned police sta-
tions. The cause of the
fire is being ascertained
“The third time he
asked, the staff replied
with ‘wheelchair andar
nahi jaygi’ (the wheel-
chair can’t go inside). We
thought it was an accessi-
bility issue, but it wasn’t.
We told him that we’d
manage, just book us a
table. He told us pointing
towards me that ‘andar
customers disturb ho
jaynge’ (the customers
will get disturbed) and
denied us entry,” she she
added.
— PTI
by a forensic team. We
have registered a case at
Sagarpur police station
and investigation is
underway.”
In another incident,
three staffers were res-
cued by the firefighters
after a fire broke out at
two sweet shops-cum-
restaurant at Uttam
Nagar area of southwest
Delhi on Sunday morn-
ing, Delhi Fire Service
officials said. Five fire
tenders were pressed into
service.
There has been no
causality and the fire was
doused by 11.45 am.
Ambulance
driver shot dead
by bike-borne
assailants: Cops
New Delhi, Feb. 13: An
ambulance driver was
shot dead by two bike-
borne men outside a clin-
ic in Delhi’s Rohini area,
police said on
Sunday.The victim has
been identified as Brij
Mohan, 29, who lived in
the Vijay Vihar area with
his wife and a son, they
said.
Preliminary investiga-
tion suggested that the
ambulance driver was
shot dead over a dispute
over parking space for

Person not named in FIR can’t seek quashing hospital ambulances, a

senior police officer said.
The police said the

of proceedings against other accused: SC assailants fired at Mohan

New Delhi, Feb. 13: The
Supreme Court has said
that a person who has not
been named as an accused
in an FIR cannot seek
quashing of proceedings
concerning another person
in a criminal case.
A bench of Justices A.M.
Khanwilkar and C.T.
Ravikumar made the
remarks while hearing a
plea seeking quashing of
an FIR in the UPPCL
Provident Fund invest-
ment scam registered at
the Hazratganj police sta-
tion of Lucknow, which
was initially probed by the
Uttar Pradesh police but
was later transferred to the
CBI. The bench said, “It is
Union minister Krishan Pal Gurjar (L) and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh not in dispute that the peti-
Bidhuri during the foundation stone laying ceremony for the reconstruction of a road in tioners have not been
Faridabad on Sunday. — PTI named as accused in the
said crime. If the petition-
ers have not been named as
accused in the said crime,
the question of quashing
the stated FIR or the case,
now under investigation by
the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI), arising
from the said crime does
not arise as the petitioners
will have no locus to seek
such a relief.”
It added, “In other words,
the petitioners not being
named as accused in the
said crime or the case now
registered by the CBI on
the basis of the said crime
cannot be permitted to ask
for quashing of the pro-
ceedings concerning some
other persons (accused).”
The bench said in its
recent order that the court
does not intend to examine
the relief sought by
Hukum Chand Garg and
others and added that they
can take recourse to appro-
priate remedy as and when
they are named by the
investigating agency (CBI)
in connection with the stat-
ed offence, now under
investigation.
The bench, however,
added that the investigat-
ing officer of the CBI shall
give 48 hours’ advance
notice to the petitioners
before proceeding against
them so as to enable them
to take recourse to appro-
priate remedy, as may be
advised.
It said all contentions
available to both sides are
left open and clarified that
this order is in the peculiar
facts of the present case
and the response filed by
the respondents in this
petition.
The bench noted that on
an earlier occasion, the
court had noticed that a
lookout notice was issued
against the petitioners.
“It is now clarified that
the said lookout notice was
issued by the local police
(UP police) investigating
the crime at that time,
which notice has lapsed
with the passage of time,”
the bench said.
The top court added that
in that sense, the writ peti-
tions filed by the petition-
ers to challenge the lookout
notice would also not sur-
vive for consideration and
it can be pointed out to the
high court where the peti-
tion is pending. — PTI
on Friday afternoon
when he was waiting out-
side a clinic in Vijay
Vihar and suffered bullet
injuries in his chest.
The matter was report-
ed to police around 2 pm
by Mohan’s wife, who
said she was at a clinic
when two assailants fired
at her husband and fled,
police said.
Mohan was rushed to a
hospital but succumbed
to his injuries, they said.
“We have registered a
case over the incident
and a probe is underway.
Prima facie, the issue
seems to be a dispute
over the parking of hos-
pital ambulances. The
accused have been identi-
fied and efforts are being
made to nab them,” said
Pranav Tayal, Deputy
Commissioner of Police
(Rohini). — PTI
 WORLD
DECCAN CHRONICLE | MONDAY | 14 FEBRUARY 2022 | COIMBATORE
SHORT
MEA PRAISES
TAKES
INDIANS FOR
AUSTRALIAN TIES
Melbourne, Feb. 13: External
affairs minister S. Jaishankar
on Sunday met the Indian com-
munity here and appreciated
their key role in shaping the
country’s positive image in
Australia and in the new phase
of bilateral ties.
Jaishankar visited Australia
from February 10 to 13 in his
first trip to the country as
external affairs minister. He
attended the 4th Quad Foreign
Ministers’ Meeting along with
the foreign ministers of
Australia, Japan and the
United States on Friday.
Jaishankar appreciated the
role of the Indian community
in shaping India’s positive
image.
“So appropriate to conclude
my Melbourne visit meeting
the Indian community. Their
role in shaping India’s positive
image is commendable. Key
partners in this new phase of
our ties,” Jaishankar tweeted.
Melbourne has a vibrant
Indian community. — PTI
PAK MAN STONED
TO DEATH FOR
BLASHPHEMY
Multan (Pakistan), Feb. 13:
An enraged mob stoned to
death a middle-aged man for
allegedly desecrating the
Quran in a remote village in
eastern Pakistan, police said
Sunday. The custodian of a
local mosque said he saw the
man burning the Muslim holy
book inside the mosque
Saturday evening and told oth-
ers before informing police,
according to police spokesman
Chaudhry Imran. The violence
took place in a village in the
Khanewal district in Punjab
province. Imran said police
rushed to the scene, where a
man was found surrounded by
an angry crowd. Officer
Mohammad Iqbal and two sub-
ordinates tried to take custody
of the man but the group began
throwing stones at them, seri-
ously injuring Iqbal and slight-
ly injuring the other two offi-
cers. Munawar Gujjar, chief of
Tulamba police station, said he
rushed reinforcements to the
mosque but they did not arrive
before the mob had stoned to
death the man and hung his
body from a tree. — AP
NEPAL CJ FACES
MOTION OF
IMPEACHMENT
Kathmandu, Feb. 13: Nepal’s
ruling coalition lawmakers on
Sunday filed an impeachment
motion against Chief Justice
Cholendra Shamsher J.B. Rana
over allegations of corruption.
Spokesperson of the
Parliament Secretariat Rajnath
Pandey said that the impeach-
ment was registered at 11 am.
Rana, who had assumed the
post of Chief Justice on
January 2, 2019, has been sus-
pended from his post following
the registration of impeach-
ment motion against him at the
House of Representatives.
A total of 98 lawmakers from
ruling alliance including Law
and Justice Minister Dilendra
Prasad Badu, Nepali Congress
Whip Pushpa Bhushal, CPN-
Maoist Centre Whip Dev
Gurung and CPN-Unified
Socialist lawmaker Jeevan
Ram Bhandari have signed the
proposal to impeach the chief
justice. There is a provision for
automatic suspension of the
chief justice with the registra-
tion of the impeachment
motion. — PTI
JAPAN: MISSING
F-15 CREWMAN
BODY FOUND
Tokyo, Feb. 13: Japan’s air
force said on Sunday that it had
recovered the body of one of
two crewmen of a fighter jet
that went missing two weeks
ago.
The F-15 fighter jet was on a
training mission on January 31
when it disappeared from radar
shortly after taking off from
Komatsu airbase in the central
Ishikawa region, sparking a
search for its missing crew.
The air force said a body was
found on Friday by the navy
during search operations in the
Sea of Japan.
The military said it has con-
firmed the identity of the body,
but did not release the name
and added that the search for
his co-pilot continued.
Exactly why and how their
plane crashed has not been
made clear, but the defence
ministry has not sought to
ground F-15s in the wake of the
incident. Japan has occasional-
ly seen accidents involving its
airforce. In 2019 an F-35A
stealth jet crashed into the sea
after the pilot suffered spatial
disorientation. — AFP
Oz pulls out as Ukraine talks fail Anti-vaxxers in
Dutch carrier KLM announced that it was suspending commercial flights to Ukraine
Sydney, Feb. 13:
Australia has directed all
remaining embassy staff
in Kyiv to evacuate, Prime
Minister Scott Morrison
said Sunday, as Russia
continued to build up
troops on its border with
Ukraine.
The evacuation follows
similar announcements
from the United States and
Canada, and comes after a
frenzy of telephone diplo-
macy failed to ease mount-
ing regional tensions
Saturday.
Russia has nearly sur-
rounded its western
neighbour with more than
100,000 troops.
Tensions intensified
after Washington warned
that an all-out invasion
could begin “any day” and
Russia launched its
biggest naval drills in
years across the Black
Sea.
Morrison said Australia
would shift its operations
to Lviv, a city close to
Ukraine's border with
Poland that is about 540
kilometres (336 miles) east
of Kyiv.
He said the three remain-
ing staff in Kyiv had been
supporting “the many
Australians [in Ukraine],
many of whom are dual
citizens”. “The situation,
as you are all hearing, is
deteriorating, and is
reaching a very dangerous
stage,” he said.
While decrying “the
autocratic, unilateral
actions of Russia”, the
prime minister also pivot-
ed back to regional poli-
tics, criticising China for
“remaining chillingly
silent on Russian troops
amassing
Ukrainian border”.
on
“The coalition of autoc-
racies that we're seeing,
the
seeking to bully other
countries, is not some-
thing that Australia ever
takes a light position on,”
Morrison said. Australia
Foreign Minister Marise
Payne reiterated calls for
Australians
Ukraine
to
warning that “security
leave
immediately,
conditions could change at
short notice.” Meanwhile,
Canada said it was closing
its embassy temporarily
and moving operations to
the western city of Lviv.
Dutch carrier KLM
announced that it was sus-
pending commercial
flights to Ukraine. The
prospect of fleeing Weste-
rners prompted Kyiv to
issue an appeal to its citi-
zens to “remain calm.”
“Right now, the people's
biggest enemy is panic,”
Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky said
on a visit to troops sta-
tioned near the Russian-
annexed peninsula of
Crimea. — AFP
Clashes break out in East Jerusalem
Israeli settlers clash with Palestinians in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh
Jarrah on Sunday. Scuffles broke out as Itamar Ben Gvir of the far-right Religious
Zionism alliance opened a parliamentary office in Sheikh Jarrah, in what is described
as an effort to show support for its Jewish residents.
RIGHT | TO LIVE
Swiss vote to ban tobacco ads, animal testing
Geneva Feb. 13: The
Swiss were voting Sunday
on whether to ban almost
all advertising of tobacco
products and separately
on a blanket ban on all ani-
mal testing.
In-person voting on those
and other topics as part of
Switzerland’s direct
democracy system began
at 10:00 am (0900 GMT),
with polls due to close just
two hours later.
Since most people vote in
advance by post, the final
results were expected by
late afternoon.
Recent polls indicate that
the initiative to tighten
Switzerland's notoriously
lax tobacco laws by ban-
ning all advertising of the
Servicemen attend joint exercises of the armed forces of Russia and Belarus as part
of a military exercise at the Gozhsky firing range in the Grodno region, Belarus on
February. Belarus said that Russian troops had begun arriving in the country for mili-
tary drills announced against the backdrop of tensions between the West and Russia
over neighbouring Ukraine.
Moscow doesn’t give a
s**t on sanctions: Envoy
Stockholm, Feb. 13:
Moscow “doesn't give a
shit” about the risk of
Western sanctions if it
were to invade Ukraine,
Russia's outspoken
ambassador to Sweden
told a Swedish newspaper.
“Excuse my language,
but we don't give a shit
about all their sanctions”,
Viktor Tatarintsev told
the Aftonbladet newspa-
per in an interview posted
on its
Saturday.
website late
“We have already had so
many sanctions and in
GERMAN LEADER
TRAVELS TO
RUSSIA, UKRAINE
Moscow, Feb. 13:
German Chancellor Olaf
Scholz is flying to
Ukraine and Russia this
week in an effort to help
defuse escalating tensions
as Western intelligence
officials warn that a
Russian invasion
Ukraine is increasingly
of
imminent and Germany
has called on its citizens
to leave Ukraine as quick-
ly as possible. Ahead of
his first visits as chancel-
lor to Kyiv on Monday
and Moscow on Tuesday
for meetings with the
Ukrainian and Russian
presidents, Scholz has
renewed his warning to
Russia. — AFP
Switzerland lags behind wealthy nations in restricting tobacco promotion
health-hazardous prod-
ucts wherever minors
might see it — effectively
nearly all settings — is the
most likely to pass.
Switzerland lags far
behind most wealthy
nations in restricting
tobacco advertising — a
situation widely blamed
on hefty lobbying by some
of the world's biggest
tobacco companies head-
quartered in the country.
Currently, most tobacco
advertising remain s legal
at a national level, except
on television and radio, or
ads that specifically target
minors.
Some Swiss cantons have
introduced stricter region-
al legislation and a new
that sense they've had a
positive effect on our
economy and agricul-
ture,” said the veteran
diplomat, who speaks flu-
ent Swedish and has been
posted to the
Scandinavian country
four times.
“We are more self-suffi-
cient and have been able
to increase our exports.
We have no Italian or
Swiss cheeses, but we've
learned to make just as
good Russian cheeses
using Italian and Swiss
recipes”, he said.
Hungarian PM warns of
refugee wave if war starts
Budapest, Feb. 12:
Hungary’s nationalist
Prime Minister warned
Saturday that a Russian
invasion of Ukraine could
send hundreds of thou-
sands of Ukrainian
refugees fleeing across the
border into his country.
Right-wing populist
leader Viktor Orban,
speaking in an annual
address that this year
kicked off his political
campaign for Hungary’s
parliamentary election on
April 3, urged a peaceful
resolution to the rising
tensions in Europe that
have stemmed from fears
of an imminent Russian
— AFP
national law is pending,
but campaigners gathered
enough signatures to spur
a vote towards a signifi-
cantly tighter country-
wide law.
Opponents of the initia-
tive, which include the
RUSSIA SAYS IT
CHASED OFF U.S.
SUBMARINE
Moscow, Feb. 13: A
Russian anti-submarine
destroyer chased off a US
submarine near the Kuril
Islands, forcing it to leave
the country’s territorial
waters, Moscow said
Saturday, amid rising ten-
sions over Ukraine.
The US military howev-
er denied the account.
Russia’s defence min-
istry said that during
planned military drills the
Marshal Shaposhnikov
destroyer had detected a
US Navy Virginia-class
submarine in Russian ter-
ritorial waters near the
Kuril Islands in the north-
ern Pacific.
When the submarine
— AFP ignored demands to sur-
face, the crew of the
frigate “used appropriate
means” and the US sub-
marine left at full speed,
the ministry said, without
providing further details.
“New sanctions are
“In connection with the
violation by the US Navy
submarine of the state
border of the Russian
Federation, the defence
nothing positive but not attache at the US embassy
as bad as the West makes in Moscow was sum-
it sound”, he added. moned to the Russian
Tatarintsev accused the defence ministry”, the
West of not understand- defence ministry said.
ing the Russian mentality. The statement from the
“The more the West US military, however, said:
pushes Russia, the “There is no truth to the
stronger the Russian
response will be,” he said.
The diplomat’s com-
ments come as Western
Russian claims of our
operations in their territo-
rial waters.”Captain Kyle
Raines, spokesman for the
nations fear Moscow is
preparing an invasion of
Ukraine, having nearly
surrounded its western
US Indo-Pacific
Command, said he would
not comment on the pre-
cise locations of US sub-
neighbour. — AFP marines. — AFP
invasion of Ukraine. the great powers are out of
Orban, a firm opponent the question, Orban said.
of any types of immigra- Orban, who has led
tion, said it was in Hungary since 2010, has
Hungary’s best interest to sought one of the closest
avoid war, which he said
would cause a wave of
relations with Russian
President Vladimir Putin
Ukrainian refugees.
While urging a resolu-
of any European leader. In
a meeting with Putin,
tion of the tensions Orban lobbied for
through dialogue, Orban increased gas shipments
said he opposed plans by from Russia and lauded
the European Union to use his country's increased
sanctions against Russia, cooperation with Moscow.
which has built up over Since Russia’s annexa-
100,000 troops along tion of Crimean
Ukraine's borders, as a Peninsula in 2014,
deterrent. Sanctions, Hungary under Orban has
punitive policies, lectur- consistently opposed lev-
ing or any other kind of elling EU sanctions
arrogance on the part of against Moscow. — PTI
Blinken takes up N. Korea
nukes with Japan, S. Korea
Honolulu (US), Feb. 13: determination, Blinken
US Secretary of State said after his talks with
Antony Blinken met his Japanese Foreign
Japanese and South Minister Yoshimasa
Korean counterparts Hayashi and South
Saturday in Hawaii to dis- Korean Foreign Minister
cuss the threat posed by Chung Eui-yong.
nuclear-armed North He said the countries
Korea after Pyongyang were very closely consult-
began the year with a ing on further steps they
series of missile tests. may take in response to
Blinken said at a news North Korea, but didn't
conference after the meet- offer specifics.
ing that North Korea was
in a phase of provocation
The three released a
joint statement calling on
and the three countries North Korea to engage in
condemned the recent dialogue and cease its
missile launches. unlawful activities. They
We are absolutely united said they had no hostile
in our approach, in our intent toward North
Japan Tobacco, is head-
quartered in Switzerland
and has helped fund the
“No” campaign, described
the initiative as
“extreme”.
However there is little
chance that a bid to ban all
animal and human testing
will go through, with only
a quarter of those ques-
tioned in the latest survey
backing the move.
All political parties, par-
liament and the govern-
Swiss government and ment oppose it, warning it
parliament, say it goes too goes too far and would
far. have dire consequences
The world's largest for medical research.
tobacco company Philip Switzerland has rejected
Morris International three similar initiatives by
(PMI), which, like British large margins since 1985.
American Tobacco and Researchers insist med-
Canada protest,
block key bridge
Windsor, Canada, Feb.
13: Canadian demonstra-
tors led by truckers angry
over Covid-19 restrictions
defied police and kept
occupying a key bridge
Saturday, while thou-
sands more rallied in the
capital as a two-week-old
protest showed no signs
of abating.
The demonstrations
have inspired copycat
protests that are now
spreading around the
globe, including to
France, the Netherlands,
Switzerland and
Australia.
In Ontario, where
authorities have declared
a state of emergency, the
provincial supreme court
had ordered truckers to
end their blockade of the
strategic Ambassador
Truck drivers and others protest Covid-19 pandemic
restrictions in Ottawa, Ontario, on Saturday. — AP/PTI
Eli Lilly gets nod
to fight Omicron
Washington, Feb. 12: US
health regulators on
Friday authorised a new
antibody drug that tar-
gets the Omicron variant,
a key step in restocking
the nation’s arsenal
against the latest version
of Covid-19.
The Food and Drug
Administration said it
cleared the Eli Lilly drug
for adults and adolescent
patients with mild-to-
moderate cases of Covid-
19. Lilly announced work
on the treatment late last
year after testing
revealed that its previous
antibody therapy was
ineffective against the
dominant omicron vari-
ant.
The Biden administra-
tion has purchased
600,000 doses before the
authorization and will
begin shipping initial
supplies to state health
authorities for distribu-
tion.
It's “an important step
Korea and were open to
meeting Pyongyang with-
out preconditions.
Hayashi later told
Japanese reporters the
three ministers had very
fruitful discussion on the
North. He declined to give
details on additional
measures they may take.
North Korea has a long
history of using provoca-
tions such as missile or
nuclear tests to seek inter-
national concessions. The
latest tests come as the
North’s economy, already
suffering from sanctions
is hit hard by pandemic
border closures. — PTI
ical progress is impossible
without experimentation,
and even the Swiss
Animal Protection group
has warned against the
initiative's “radical”
demands.
As the laws have tight-
ened, the number of ani-
mals used has fallen
sharply in recent decades,
from nearly two million
per year in the early 1980s
to around 560,000 today.
In another animal-
themed vote, inhabitants
in the northern Basel-
Stadt canton will decide
whether non-human pri-
mates should be granted
same basic fundamental
rights as their human
cousins. — PTI
pg 8
Bridge, which links the
city of
Canada
Windsor in
to Detroit,
Michigan in the United
States.
Canada's Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau
promised “an increasing-
ly robust police interven-
tion,” adding that borders
cannot remain closed and
“this conflict must
end.”Canadian police,
backed by armored vehi-
cles, began clearing the
bridge, taking down tents
erected in traffic lanes
and persuading some
drivers to move their
trucks.
But by Saturday
evening, after hours of
facing off against the
demonstrators, the police
had not completely
cleared the span. — PTI
in meeting the need for
more tools to treat
patients as new variants
of the virus continue to
emerge,” said Dr. Patricia
Cavazzoni, FDA's drug
center director.
The FDA announcement
comes after the two lead-
ing monoclonal antibody
treatments in the U.S.
turned out to be ineffec-
tive against omicron.
Data indicate the Lilly
drug also works against
the emerging BA.2 muta-
tion of omicron.
Lilly said the contract
for its
bebtelovimab,
new drug,
pro-
nounced beb-teh-LO-vi-
mab, is worth at least $720
million. Laboratory-made
monoclonal antibodies
stand in for the human
body's immune system by
acting to block an invad-
ing virus. Delivered by IV
or by injection, the medi-
cines are meant to be
used early in an infection.
— PTI
Lawyers in
Netanyahu trial
say no illegal
phone taps found
Jerusalem, Feb 13:
Prosecutors in the high-
profile corruption case
against former prime
minister Benjamin
Netanyahu said Sunday
that police have found
no unlawful use of
phone surveillance tech-
nology against witness-
es in the trial. The state
attorney's response to
the court came a week
after an Israeli newspa-
per report alleged that
police used spyware to
hack the phones of
numerous former min-
istry directors, mayors,
and protest leaders.
Among the alleged tar-
gets were a key state wit-
ness in the trial against
Netanyahu and some of
the former prime minis-
ter's close aides.
The prosecutor's office
told the Jerusalem
District Court that
police officials who
looked into the matter
did not find any cases of
surveillance without a
court order in the three
corruption cases involv-
ing Netanyahu. It asked
the court for additional
time for a probe conduct-
ed by the attorney gener-
al's office to investigate
the allegations more
comprehensively before
responding. Israeli busi-
ness newspaper Calc-
alist first reported that
police had illegally used
Israel's NSO Group's
spyware Pegasus,
prompting a high-level
investigation and halt-
ing the opposition lea-
der's corruption trial.
 SPECIAL
DECCAN CHRONICLE | MONDAY | 14 FEBRUARY 2022 | COIMBATORE
pg 9

OTHER STORY
‘Whiff of Munich’ in Russia standoff
■ Says British minister who compares Ukraine situation to Nazi appeasement before WW II
London: British Defence

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (left) and

LeBron James
LeBron James passes
Jabbar on all-time
‘combined’ scoring list
Los Angeles: NBA superstar
LeBron James became the
highest scoring player in com-
bined regular season and play-
off history, surpassing Los
Angeles Lakers icon Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar on Saturday
night. James came into
Saturday’s game against the
Golden State Warriors needing
19 points to pass Abdul-Jabbar
for most combined regular sea-
son and playoff points.
Abdul-Jabbar finished his
hall of fame career with 44,149
points, including 38,387 in the
regular season and 5,762 in the
postseason. James drained a
three pointer less than five
minutes into the third quarter
Saturday for his 21st point of
the game and a total of 44,152
which vaulted him past Abdul-
Jabbar. He finished the game
with 26 points but missed a key
last-second free throw as the
Lakers lost 117-115 to the
Warriors. James now sits num-
ber three on the all-time regu-
lar season scoring list with
36,526 points and number one
on the all-time postseason scor-
ing list with 7,657 points.
He is fewer than 500 points
from passing Karl Malone for
number two on the regular sea-
son scoring list. He passed
Michael Jordan for number one
on the all-time playoff scoring
list in 2017. James also has
scored 25 points or more in 22
straight games, which is the
longest such streak of his
career. — AFP
Kodak Black among
4 shot at outside
Super Bowl party
Los Angeles: Four people were
shot and wounded early
Saturday after a fight broke out
outside a Los Angeles restau-
rant hosting a party that fol-
lowed a Justin Bieber concert,
police said.
The gunfire erupted outside
The Nice Guy restaurant, strik-
ing and injuring four men ages
60, 22, 20 and 19, LAPD Officer
Lizeth Lomeli said. Their
names were not released, but
NBC News reported rapper
Kodak Black was among the
wounded.
Officers who responded to the
scene found two victims.
Paramedics took them to the
hospital for treatment of non-
life-threatening injuries, police
said in an updated statement
Saturday afternoon. Two addi-
tional victims went to hospitals
on their own, according to the
statement. All four victims
were listed in stable condition.
Detectives asked witnesses to
come forward to help them
identify the gunman. Videos
posted on TMZ.com and on
social media show Black posing
for photos with a group of peo-
ple outside the restaurant when
the brawl broke out. Black is
among several people involved
in the brawl when shots rang
out, sending everyone at the
scene running for cover.
Law enforcement sources told
NBC News that Black, whose
legal name is Bill Kapri, was
among the people shot and
injured. — AP
Secretary Ben Wallace
has compared Western
diplomatic efforts to head
off a Russian invasion of
Ukraine to the appease-
ment of Nazi Germany
ahead of World War II.
Wallace told the Sunday
Times that Russian
President Vladimir Putin
could send his massed
troops into Ukraine “at
any time” and suggested
unnamed Western coun-
tries were not being tough
enough with Moscow. “It
may be that he (Putin) just
switches off his tanks and
we all go home but there is
a whiff of Munich in the
air from some in the
West,” Wallace said.
The 1938 Munich
Agreement handed Nazi
Germany parts of
Czechoslovakia in a failed
bid to head off major con-
flict in Europe. Western
leaders have been shut-
tling back and forth to
Moscow in the hopes of
persuading Putin to stand
his troops down.
“The worrying thing is
that despite the massive
Germany loses patience with
ex-chancellor’s Russia lobbying
Frankfurt: Former
German chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder's close
friendship with President
Vladimir Putin and lucra-
tive business dealings
with Russia have for years
been reluctantly tolerated
at home. But as war clouds
gather over Ukraine and
allies question Germany's
resolve, Schroeder is
increasingly seen as a
potential liability to new
chancellor and fellow
Social Democrat Olaf
Scholz, fueling calls for a
clean break with the pro-
Kremlin lobbyist.
“Schroeder is a burden
to Germany's foreign poli-
cy and to his old party,”
Der Spiegel weekly wrote.
“He has clear goals. Not
for his country, but for
himself.” Schroeder's
recent warning to Ukraine
to stop its “sabre rattling”
was met with widespread
disbelief in Germany,
even among longtime
friends within the centre-
left SPD party.
Last week's announce-
ment that the 77-year-old
is set to serve on the board
of Russian state energy
giant Gazprom did little to
calm tempers, as did the
revelation that Schroeder
held talks about Russia
with an SPD interior min-
istry official last month.
The controversy comes
at an awkward time for
Scholz, who faces a major
test next week when he
travels to Moscow for his
first in-person talks with
Putin since taking office.
Scholz has been accused of
being slow to step into the
diplomatic fray in the
Ukraine crisis, and of
muddying Germany's
message of being united
with allies against the
Russian threat.
Nord Stream 2: After
much prodding from the
Ben Wallace
amount of increased
diplomacy, that military
build-up has continued. It
has not paused, it has con-
tinued,” Wallace said.
Asked about the Munich
comparison on Sunday
morning television, fellow
British Conservative MP
Brandon Lewis said the
Gerhard Schroeder
United States and other
allies, Scholz recently
toughened his stance on
possible sanctions should
Russia invade Ukraine,
including halting the
Gazprom-owned Nord
Stream 2 gas pipeline.
It was Schroeder, chan-
cellor from 1998-2005, who
signed off on the first
Nord Stream pipeline
between Russia and
Germany in his final
weeks in office, and he
currently heads the Nord
Stream company's share-
holders' committee. He is
also chairman of the
board of directors of
Russian oil giant Rosneft.
In a TV interview, Scholz
denied being influenced
by Schroeder ahead of the
Moscow trip. “I haven't
asked him for advice, he
hasn't given me any
either,” he said. “There's
only one chancellor, and
that's me.”
'A distraction': Putin
and Schroeder appear to
association with the Nazis
was “not the point”.
Wallace was making
“the comparison between
the diplomatic attempts in
the run up to World War
Two and the diplomatic
attempts we’re all putting
in now,” Lewis said on
Sky News. — AFP
have built “a genuine
friendship,
trust” back
based on
when
Schroeder was in power,
political scientist Ursula
Muench said. But “it's
problematic when a for-
mer chancellor uses his
past political activities
and contacts to make
money,” she said.
Germany's SPD has his-
torically championed
close ties with Russia,
born out of the
“Ostpolitik” policy of rap-
prochement and dialogue
with the then Soviet
Union, devised by former
SPD chancellor Willy
Brandt in the 1970s.
Successive chancellors
continued the policy to
varying degrees, includ-
ing Scholz's centre-right
predecessor Angela
Merkel who focussed on
the economic benefits of
dealing with Russia -- a
strategy known as
“Wandel durch Handel” in
German, or “change
Indian-origin cop in race to be
London Police Commissioner
London: Anil Kanti ‘Neil’
Basu, an Indian-origin
British counter-terror cop,
the most senior police offi-
cer of Asian heritage, is
among the frontrunners to
become the next London
Metropolitan Police
Commissioner, according
to British media reports.
He is likely to replace
Dame Cressida Dick, the
first woman to lead the
biggest UK police force,
who resigned earlier this
week after a series of
damning reports of bully-
ing, misogyny and racism
emerged in the force
under her helm.
Mr Basu, 53, is currently
the Assistant
Commissioner (Specialist
Operations) of the London
Metropolitan Police. His
father was a surgeon, who
hailed from Kolkata, and
through trade”. But even
among German politi-
cians sympathetic to
Russia and its longstand-
ing grievance over
NATO's expansion,
patience with Schroeder -
who famously celebrated
his 70th birthday with
Putin in Saint Petersburg -
is running out.
SPD veteran Rudolf
Dressler told Spiegel that
Schroeder's behaviour
was “embarrassing”, and
urged the party leadership
to ask Schroeder to refrain
from commenting on polit-
ical matters in public.
Opposition politicians and
those from the SPD's jun-
ior coalition party, the lib-
eral FDP, have called for
Schroeder to lose his priv-
ileges as ex-chancellor --
including an office with
staff and a driver.
German taxpayers
should no longer “finance
Russian lobbying”, MP
Volker Ullrich from the
conservative CSU party
told Bild newspaper, sug-
gesting Gazprom pay for
Schroeder's upkeep.
Sudha David-Wilp,
deputy director of the
German Marshall Fund
think tank in Berlin, said
the latest Schroeder saga
was “a distraction” in the
Ukraine crisis, but noth-
ing new. “Everybody
knows where Schroeder
stands, everybody knows
where he is getting his
source of income from,”
she said.
More interesting is how
Scholz and the SPD choose
to navigate relations with
Russia in the future, she
said. “Is there now an
understanding that
'Ostpolitik' or 'Wandel
durch Handel' is a thing of
the past? Or will they keep
using the same formula?”
she asked.
— AFP
Anil Kanti ‘Neil’ Basu
relocated to the UK in the
1960s, where he married
his mother, a nurse of
Welsh heritage.
An economics graduate
from Nottingham
University, Mr Basu had
joined the Met Police in
1992 and was elevated as
head of counter-terrorism
and specialist operations,
A file picture starring the cast of the hugely popular sitcom Friends
Chinese fans of Friends
angry show censored
Beijing: Chinese fans of
U.S. sitcom “Friends”
have expressed dismay
online after noticing cen-
sorship in recently
released episodes of the
beloved show, including of
LGBT issues.
Several major Chinese
streaming sites, including
Tencent, Baidu's IQiyi Inc,
Alibaba's Youku, and
Bilibili, started showing a
version of the first season
of the show on Friday, its
first re-release in China
for several years.
But fans soon noticed
parts of the long-running
show were different to
what they had seen before
and complained of censor-
ship which included the
removal of lesbian, gay,
bisexual and trans-related
content, as well as mis-
translations.
In one example, a con-
versation where a main
before becoming director
of the College of Policing.
A widely respected fig-
ure in the police force, Mr
Basu rose to worldwide
fame during the London
Bridge incident two years
ago, when he and his team
caught and shot dead the
terror convict Usman
Khan, according to the
Guardian newspaper.
In the past, Mr Basu has
spoken out on the racial
discrimination the he suf-
fered during childhood. In
a blog in October 2020, he
said that he did not like
the term “Black History
Month” because “I don’t
like the fact that we need a
special month to recog-
nise and celebrate black
achievement or under-
stand racism”, the
Evening Standard news-
paper reported.
character, Ross, explained
his wife was a lesbian,
was deleted. Another
scene where another char-
acter, Joey, suggested
going to a “strip joint”
was translated as “go out
to play” on the version
shown on Tencent Video.
Reuters confirmed the
Tencent version of the re-
released season included
those changes.
In recent years, China
has shut tens of thou-
sands of websites and
social media accounts
that contained what it
said was illegal content as
well as “vulgar” and
pornographic material. “I
resolutely boycott the cas-
trated version of
'Friends',” said one user
on China's Twitter-like
Weibo.
“This is defiling a clas-
sic,” said another. A third
user said “if you can't
According to media
reports, others in the fray
include Martin Hewitt,
Chair of the National
Police Chiefs Council,
Simon Byrne, Chief con-
stable of the Police
Service of Northern
Ireland, Mark Rowley, for-
mer head of counter ter-
rorism, Matt Jukes, anoth-
er assistant commissioner
in the Met and currently
acting head of the count-
er-terrorism, Louise Rolfe,
a leader and specialist on
tackling violence against
women and Andy Cooke, a
former chief of
Merseyside police and
now with the policing
inspectorate.
The London police com-
missioner is chosen by
consensus by the Home
Secretary and the London
Mayor. — PTI
show the complete ver-
sion under the current
atmosphere, then don't
import it.”
The discussion was a
“hot search topic” on
Weibo on Sunday. But in a
sign the discussion itself
may have caught the
attention of censors,
searches on Weibo on
Sunday for several varia-
tions on the hashtag or
search term
#Friendshasbeencensore
d produced either zero or
limited recent results.
'Friends' has a vast fan
base in China. Many
watched it on pirated
DVDs or downloads after
the hit 10-season show
first aired in the 1990s.
Chinese streaming site
SOHU TV bought the
broadcasting rights to the
show but this ended in
2018, the company said.
— Reuters

Peru’s prez ditches iconic hat and seeks image rebrand
Lima: Peruvian President
Pedro Castillo has adopted a
unique measure in a bid to
lift his falling popularity
and resolve a series of polit-
ical crises: he has ditched
his iconic white cowboy hat.
The hat has been an impor-
tant feature of Castillo's
humble rural-school teacher
image that helped propel
him to the presidency. But
for three days running this
week, Castillo has appeared
in public without his “som-
brero.”
Having been forced into a
fourth cabinet reshuffle in
just six months as president
and with his disapproval
rating hitting 60 percent,
Castillo allegedly sought the
advice of Saul Alanya, a
leadership and self-improve-
ment coach.
“I suspect that the image
'coach' advised him that he
had to change and should
start with the hat,” political
analyst Augusto Alvarez
Rodrich said. “The problem
is that he has taken off the
hat but not the ideas that
were beneath it.”
Castillo has come under
fire during his short presi-
dency with critics blaming
his political inexperience
and lack of management
skills for the instability of
his successive cabinets. The
52-year-old says he is the vic-
tim of a campaign by politi-
cal opponents and some
media actors to try to force
him from power, hitting out
at “anti-democratic atti-
tudes of certain sectors that
just want to destabilize the
country.”
In December, he survived
an attempt at impeachment,
but earlier this month a far-
right party announced it
would file a new motion to
remove him. Prosecutors
are also investigating him
and his associates in three
separate graft cases.
Amidst the political tur-
moil, Castillo appears to
have decided that the iconic
headwear that contributed
to his humble man-of-the-
people image has got to go.
'Kidnapped': The hat was a
prominent feature on the
campaign trail, although it
turned Castillo into the butt
of jokes by his opponents
and some sections of the
press. He was said to only
ever remove it when enter-
ing church, and was even
pictured wearing it at break-
fast on election day last
June, alongside his likewise
sombrero-clad parents. He
wore it in cabinet meetings,
in talks with foreign digni-
taries and even at the United
Nations General Assembly
in New York.
Peruvians saw their new
president without his som-
brero for the first time on
Tuesday when swearing in
his new cabinet, before sub-
sequent hatless appearances
on Wednesday and
Thursday. He had briefly
been deprived of it last week
when meeting Brazil's far-
right president, Jair
Bolsonaro, who stole it off
his head while laughing and
posing for pictures.
“Help me, Bolsonaro's kid-
napped me,” joked Castillo.
However, Castillo has not
always been so attached to
his sombrero. He did not
wear it when he first came
to national prominence in
2017 as the leader of a strik-
ing teachers union.
Guido Bellido, a politician
from Castillo's ruling Peru
Iraq top court rules
Libre (Free Peru) party,
Zebari out of prez race
claimed last year that he Baghdad: Iraq's supreme
was the one to suggest the court on Sunday ruled out
hat would make a good polit- a bid by veteran politi-
ical identity. On the cam- cian Hoshyar Zebari to
paign trail, Castillo traveled run for president after a
to every corner of Peru complaint filed against
wearing his hat and even him over corruption
sometimes riding on horse- charges.
back. He took part in elec- Zebari, 68, who served
tion debates clad in his as foreign minister for a
white hat, and so the legend decade after the 2003 US-
was born. led invasion that toppled
Luxury item: Castillo's tall dictator Saddam Hussein,
wide-brimmed straw hat is was previously “suspend-
typical of those worn by ed” from the race on
peasants in his home region February 6, on the eve of
of Cajamarca, in northern the scheduled date for a
Peru. presidential vote in par-
Worn by both men and liament in which he was
women - although it is less the favourite.
popular amongst younger MPs submitted a com-
generations - it is known as plaint against Zebari
a “bambamarquino” or before the supreme court,
“chotano” after the rural on the grounds that his
area of Chota in Cajamarca. participation would have
Each hat is handmade and it been “unconstitutional”
takes between three weeks because of the outstand-
and two months to complete. ing corruption charges
Although intrinsically and on the basis of repu-
linked to humble peasants, tation.
the chotanos have recently “The federal court
become a luxury item, sell- decided in its verdict to
ing for as much as 4,000 invalidate the candidacy
soles ($1,000). of Hoshyar Zebari to the
— AFP post of president of the
republic,” state news
agency INA announced.
On Tuesday, parliament
announced the reopening
of registration for candi-
dates to the largely cere-
monial post of president
that is reserved for Iraq's
Kurds, after a delay for
lack of a quorum.
Zebari, also a former
finance minister, was ini-
tially tipped as a favourite
out of a total of 25 candi-
dates, along with incum-
bent President Barham
Saleh. The complainants
cited Zebari's 2016 dis-
missal from the post of
finance minister by par-
liament “over charges
linked to financial and
administrative corrup-
tion”.
Public funds worth $1.8
million were allegedly
diverted to pay for airline
tickets for his personal
security detail. The com-
plaint also cited at least
two other judicial cases
linked to Zebari. “I have
not been convicted in any
court,” Zebari said in a
television interview.
 MONDAY | 14 FEBRUARY 2022 | COIMBATORE
quick Govt to sell 5% stake in LIC;
BITES embedded value at `5.4 L cr
INDICATORS % RAVI RANJAN PRASAD
Sensex 58152.92 -1.31
Nifty 50
S&P 500*
Dollar (`)
17374.80 -1.31
4,418.64 -1.90
75.37 -0.56
Pound Sterling (`) 101.93 -0.21
Euro (`) 85.74 0.035
Gold (10gm)* (`) 48,669▲22 0.04
Brent crude ($/bbl)* 93.05 1.79
IN 10-Yr bond yield 6.698 0.00
US 10-Yr T-bill yield* 2.007 -0.022
* As of 8:30 PM IST
5G spectrum
auction expected
in May: Secy
The long-awaited 5G spectrum
auction is expected to be held
in May this year if the Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India
(Trai) submits by March its rec-
ommendations on the rules
regarding the sale process,
telecom secretary K.
Rajaraman said. Telecom minis-
ter Ashwini Vaishnaw earlier
this month said the Trai has
informed that it will submit its
recommendations for the 5G
auction by March.
Ruchi Soya Q3
income rises 41%,
profit up 3%
Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd
reported a 3 per cent increase
in its net profit to Rs 234.07
crore for the December quarter
against Rs 227.44 crore in the
year-ago period. Total income
rose by 41 per cent to Rs
6,301.19 crore from Rs 4,475.59
crore, it said in a regulatory fil-
ing. The firm said it has strongly
positioned itself with diversified
portfolio of products to capi-
talise on consumer preferences
for trusted and branded foods.
IL&FS Group to
resolve `55K-cr
debt by March
IL&FS Group would resolve debt
of Rs 55,000 crore by March
2022, the board of the crisis-hit
company has stated in its affi-
davit filed before the NCLAT.
While updating the progress of
the resolution progress, the
IL&FS board, led by Uday Kotak,
said Rs 55,000 crore debt
would be resolved through
asset monetisation, restructur-
ing and insolvency proceeding
initiatives. Some of this has
already been completed.
FPIs net sellers
in equities by
`10,080 cr in Feb.
Foreign portfolio investors
(FPIs) have withdrawn a net Rs
14,935 crore from the Indian
markets in the first half of
February. FPIs have been net
sellers for the fourth consecu-
tive month. The total net out-
flow during February 1-11 stood
at Rs 14,935 crore. As per data
from depositories, FPIs took
out Rs 10,080 crore from equi-
ties, Rs 4,830 crore from the
debt segment and Rs 24 crore
from hybrid instruments.
All retail investors to get minimum no. of shares
MUMBAI, FEB. 13
The government
Sunday filed draft papers
with the markets regula-
on
tor for selling a 5 per cent
stake in the Life Insurance
Corporation of India (LIC)
through a public issue that
promises to be India's
largest ever.
As per the 652-page draft
red herring prospectus
filed with the Securities
and Exchange Board of
India, the initial public
offering will comprise
over 31.625 crore equity
shares of Rs 10 face value,
constituting 5 per cent of
the insurance behemoth's
over 632.5 crore equity
shares, which are 100 per
cent owned
Government of India.
by the
The IPO will allot a mini-
mum number of shares to
all retail bidders.
As per the prospectus,
LIC's embedded value has
been pegged at about Rs
5.4 lakh crore, as of
September 30, 2021, by
international actuarial
firm Milliman Advisors.
Under the embedded value
method, insurance compa-
nies' present value of
future profit is also includ-
ed in its present net asset
value (NAV).
LIC will not receive any
money from the public
offer, as the net proceeds
from the offer will go to
the Government of India.
The IPO is 100 per cent
offer for sale (OFS) by the
GoI, with no fresh issue of
shares by the LIC.
The document said the
policyholder reservation
portion shall not exceed 10
BIOPHARMA
MAKING RAPID
STRIDES
AKSHAYA KUMAR
SAHOO
BHUBANESWAR, FEB. 13
The demand for
biopharmaceu-
tical products
in India is
promising and
its market in
Gaurav
the biotechnolo-
Kaushik
gy sector accou-
nted for 58 per cent in 2019
and 62 per cent in 2020. In
the Indian biotechnology
market, biopharmaceuti-
cal is the largest segment,
said Gaurav Kaushik, MD
and CEO, Meteoric
Biopharmaceuticals, on
Sunday.
In an interview, Kaushik
said the Indian biologics
market is expected to reg-
ister a compound annual
growth rate (CAGR) of 22
per cent during 2019-2025
to reach $12 billion by 2025.
"As per the Mordor
Intelligence report, Asia
Pacific is the fastest grow-
ing market for biopharma-
ceuticals and North
America is the largest
market. India stands at
number three in the Asia-
Pacific market in terms of
contribution to the bio-
pharmaceutical sector," he
said.
$80 billion in Aramco US exporting every
shares moved to molecule of LNG possible seeks IPO approval
Saudi sovereign fund
Riyadh, Feb. 13: Saudi
Arabia has moved 4 per-
cent of Aramco shares
worth $80 billion in the
world's biggest oil exporter
to the kingdom's sovereign
wealth fund, authorities
said on Sunday.
Crown Prince Moham-
med bin Salman, Saudi’s
de facto ruler, announced
the move as part of efforts
to recalibrate the oil-domi-
nated economy.
The transfer is also the
latest sign Saudi Arabia
wants to open up the oil
giant and "crown jewel" of
the Saudi economy.
The "transfer of four per-
cent of Aramco shares to
the Public Investment
Fund (PIF)... is part of the
kingdom's long-term strat-
LIC plays contrarian on Sensex firms
RAVI RANJAN PRASAD
MUMBAI, FEB. 13
LIC, India's largest domes-
tic equity investor, booked
profit in a dozen Sensex
companies during the
October-December quar-
ter while raising stake in
an equal number of com-
panies as a contrarian
investor.
An analysis of the latest
shareholding pattern of
Sensex companies showed
LIC booked profit in 12
companies--IndusInd
Bank, NTPC, Mahindra &
Mahindra, HDFC Bank,
Maruti, Bharti Airtel, Sun
Pharma, L&T, Titan, TCS,
HDFC and Wipro.
The companies in which
LIC raised its stake during
the third quarter included
Tata Steel, Reliance
Industries, Asian Paints,
Dr Reddy's Lab,
per cent of the offer size
and that the employee
reservation portion shall
not exceed 5 per cent of
post-offer equity share
capital.
The LIC policyholders
and LIC employees will be
offered equity shares at a
discount to the public
issue price to be set by the
company.
"Allocation to all cate-
gories, except the anchor
investor portion and the
retail portion, shall be
made on a proportionate
basis subject to valid bids
received at or above the
Quick delivery services RIL plans to turn syngas
driving hiring in e-com into blue hydrogen
SANGEETHA G
CHENNAI, FEB. 13
Quick delivery services
are driving jobs in the e-
commerce space with the
last mile delivery hiring
growing by around 70 per
cent in the December
quarter.
"The year seems to be
optimistic for last mile
delivery services and a
healthy kick-start is
expected as hiring for the
quarter is at 69 per cent,
up by 20 per cent from Q3.
Hiring for delivery servic-
es rose by 28 per cent in
2021 and it intends to
surge by further 32 per
cent in 2022," said Ajoy
Thomas, VP & business
head (retail, e-commerce,
logistics & transporta-
tion), TeamLease
Services.
According to him, e-com-
merce is now about
instant services.
Customers now want their
service providers to be
omnipresent and quick
across business channels.
Online grocery order
lead times are short, so
ensuring plenty of staff
for order fulfilment is
essential. This is because
it is difficult to predict
TVS Supply Chain
egy to support the restruc-
turing of its economy," the
crown prince was quoted
as saying by the official
Saudi Press Agency.
Crown Prince Moham-
med said he wants the
investment fund to have $1
trillion in assets by the end
of 2025. The fund, the cen-
trepiece of official moves
to end economic reliance
on oil, has less than half
that amount before this.
"The shares will bolster
the fund's strong financial
position and high credit
ratings in the medium
term, as the PIF relies on
the value of its assets and
the returns on its assets
under management for its
funding strategy," he said.
—AFP
Hindustan Unilever,
Nestle, ICICI Bank,
UltraTech Cement, Power
Grid, HCL Technologies,
Infosys and Tech
Mahindra.
LIC's stake remained
unchanged in SBI, Kotak
Mahindra Bank, ITC, and
Bajaj Finserv.
Data compiled by Prime
Database shows in value
terms LIC's holdings in
listed companies were to
the tune of Rs 9.53 lakh
offer price, as applicable,"
the document said.
About the retail individ-
ual investors' (RIB) por-
tion, the document said,
"The allocation to each
RIB shall not be less than
the minimum bid lot, sub-
ject to availability of equi-
ty shares in the retail por-
tion, and the remaining
available equity shares, if
any, shall be allocated on a
proportionate basis."
"The objects of the offer
are to achieve the benefits
of listing the equity
shares on the stock
exchanges; and carry out
customer demand, more
so for new operations, said
Thomas.
According to RedSeer
Consultants, the market
penetration of quick com-
merce was estimated at
$0.3 billion in CY2021 and
is expected to grow to $5
billion by 2025.
Around 20 million
households are address-
able by quick commerce
with an estimated
addressable market size of
$50 billion, as of 2020.
Quick commerce is
defined as delivery of con-
sumables within a span of
45 minutes with a nominal
delivery charge.
"Quick commerce is
emerging as one of the
fastest growing e-com-
merce models serving the
need for faster delivery
among convenience seek-
SERGIO CHAPA
FEB. 13
Tankers are docked or
loading at all seven US
liquefied natural gas
export terminals for the
first time, marking a
small piece of industry
history and setting up
record flows to the plants
amid high prices and ten-
sions in Europe.
The Greek-flagged
tanker Yiannis is docked
at Venture Global LNG's
Calcasieu Pass plant in
Louisiana, which
remains under construc-
tion but has been given
permission by the
Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission
to send out cargoes dur-
ing the export terminal's
startup process. The
crore at the end of
December, an increase of
1.46 per cent from the pre-
vious quarter.
The highest increases in
LIC's holdings, in percent-
age terms, were in Power
Grid Corporation of
India, Dredging Corpor-
ation of India, CAMS,
Coforge, Deepak Nitrite,
JSW Energy, Endurance
Technologies, SBI Cards &
Payment Services, PI
Industries and Laurus
Labs.
The 10 companies in
which the insurer sold the
most stake were IRB
Infrastructure Develop-
ers, ABB India, Hindustan
Motors, Sterlite Technolo-
gies, Hindustan Aeronaut-
ics, Bombay Dyeing,
Central Bank of India,
Steel Authority of India,
KEC International and
Bharat Bijlee.
the Offer for Sale of over
31.625 crore equity shares
by Government of India. .
On Sunday, Tuhin Kanta
Pandey, secretary, Dipam
tweeted that "The DRHP of
LIC IPO has been filed
today with the SEBI. For
filing valuation about 31.6
crore shares are on offer
representing 5 per cent
equity,"
"LIC has 66 per cent mar-
ket share in new business
premiums with 283 mil-
lion policies and 1.35 mil-
lion agents as of March 31,
2021," Pandey added in the
tweet.
ing customers. With high
fill-rates and 30-45 min-
utes delivery service for
unplanned orders, mid-to
high income households
in metros are increasingly
replacing traditional
kiranas with quick com-
merce platforms like
Swiggy's Instamart and
Dunzo," said Mukesh
Kumar, engagement man-
ager at RedSeer.
Blinkit, BBNow, and
Zepto are a few others
active in quick commerce.
Swiggy Instamart expects
an annualised run rate of
$1 billion in in gross
mechandise value in the
next three quarters.
"The GMV our food
delivery business
achieved in 40 months,
took Instamart just 17
months," said Sriharsha
Majety, CEO, Swiggy.
Saturday afternoon
arrival of LNG ships
Manhattan at Kinder
Morgan's Elba Island
LNG plant in Georgia,
marked loadings at the
other six US LNG export
terminals.
Although the tankers
will only remain docked
at the same time for less
than a day, demand from
their loadings helped set
a record 13.3 billion cubic
feet of natural gas flows
to US LNG export termi-
nals on Saturday. Once
ABG Shipyard fraud: SBI
says no delay in filing case
New Delhi, Feb. 13:
Amidst allegations of
delay in filing of com-
plaint against the coun-
try's biggest bank fraud
totaling Rs 22,842 crore,
State Bank of India (SBI)
on Sunday said it has been
diligently following the
ABG Shipyard fraud case
with the CBI following the
forensic audit report. The
Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) recent-
ly booked ABG Shipyard
Limited, its former chair-
man and MD Rishi
Kamlesh Agarwal and
others for allegedly cheat-
ing a consortium of two
dozen lenders led by ICICI
Bank.
ABG Shipyard fraud is
much higher than the one
perpetrated by Nirav
Modi and his uncle Mehul
Choksi, who allegedly
cheated the Punjab
National Bank of around
Rs 14,000 crore through
issuance of fraudulent
Letters of Undertaking.
Congress general secre-
tary Randeep Singh
Surjewala at a press con-
ference wondered as to
why did it take five years
after the liquidation pro-
ceedings of ABG
Shipyard to lodge even an
FIR for duping 28 banks of
Rs 22,842 crore.
Responding to the alle-
gation, SBI in a statement
said a fraud is declared
basis the forensic audit
report findings that are
discussed thoroughly in
joint lenders meetings
and when a fraud is
declared, an initial com-
plaint is preferred with
the CBI and based on their
enquiries further infor-
mation is gathered.
"In a few cases, when
substantial additional
information is gathered, a
NIDHI VERMA
NEW DELHI, FEB. 13
Reliance Industries Ltd
plans to produce blue
hydrogen at a "competitive
cost" of about $1.2-$1.5 per
kg as it repurposes its $4-
billion gasification assets,
the conglomerate said in a
presentation.
Owned by billionaire
Mukesh Ambani, Reliance
has in the past year
unveiled plans to reduce
its dependence on its
mainstay oil-to-chemicals
business and invested in
clean energy projects to
burnish its green creden-
tials.
Reliance will initially
use syngas, produced by
petcoke gasifies, to make
blue hydrogen for it
Jamnagar complex, until
green hydrogen's cost
comes down, it said in the
presentation.
Hydrogen produced from
natural gas and which
eliminates emissions by
capturing and storing the
emitted carbon is called
blue hydrogen. Green
hydrogen is extracted
from water using electrol-
ysis powered by renewable
energy.
"In the interim, till cost
Calcasieu Pass LNG is in
full service, the seven US
LNG export terminals
will be able to draw as
much as 13.9 billion cubic
feet of natural gas per
day, solidifying America's
lead over Qatar and
Australia as the world's
top supplier of the super-
chilled power plant fuel,
figures from US Energy
Information Administra-
tion show.
Out of the roughly five
dozen US LNG cargoes on
the water, more than two-
thirds are headed to
Europe where low winter
inventories and tensions
between Russia and
Ukraine have sent natu-
ral gas prices on the con-
tinent soaring to more six
times the US benchmark
Henry Hub. —Bloomberg
SBI EXPECTS TO RECOVER `8,000 CR
FROM WRITTEN-OFF A/Cs IN FY22
New Delhi, Feb. 13:
State Bank of India is
expecting to recover
around `8,000 crore from
written-off accounts,
including from NCLT
resolved cases, in the
current fiscal year end-
ing on March 31, 2022.
During the third quarter
ended December 2021,
SBI recovered `1,500 cr-
ore from written-off acc
ounts and for the nine
months during April-
December FY22, the
recovery amount stands
at `5,600 crore, SBI said
in a post Q3 FY22 earn-
ings call with analysts.
The bank's net profit
during the quarter
surged by 62.27 per cent
to Rs 8,432 crore.
second complaint incor-
porating full and complete
details is filed which
forms basis for the FIR. At
no point in time, there
was any effort to delay the
process. The lenders
forum diligently follows
through with CBI in all
such cases," it said.
Sharing the timeline of
events, the statement said
the loan, given by a con-
sortium of lenders led by
ICICI Bank, turned NPA
on November 30, 2013.
Several efforts were
made to revive the compa-
ny operations but could
not succeed, it said,
adding the account was
restructured under CDR
mechanism in March 2014
by all lenders but it could
not be recused.
"As the restructuring
of green hydrogen comes
down, RIL can be the first
mover to establish a
hydrogen ecosystem, with
minimal incremental
investment, in India," it
said.
Ambani, who wants to
move his group to net-zero
carbon emissions by 2035,
last month announced
plans to invest Rs 5.95 lakh
crore ($79 billion) to set up
green energy projects
including a 100 gigawatt
renewable energy power
plant.
The company operates
the world's biggest refin-
ing complex at Jamanagar.
"Subsequently, as hydro-
gen from syngas is
replaced by green hydro-
gen, the entire syngas will
be converted to chemi-
cals."
Ambani wants to pro-
duce green hydrogen at $1
per kg before the turn of
this decade.
—Reuters
DEVIDUTTA TRIPATHY
FEB. 13
TVS Supply Chain
Solutions Ltd has sought
the market regulator's
approval to raise as much
as Rs 2,000 crore ($264 mil-
lion) selling new shares in
an initial public offering.
The company's existing
shareholders, including
founder TVS Mobility Pvt
Ltd and investors Gateway
Partners and Tata Capital
Financial Services Ltd,
plan to sell as many as
59.48 million shares in the
IPO, according to a draft
prospectus. The Chennai-
based company plans to
repay some of its debt, and
buy out minority share-
holders in its UK unit from
the proceeds.
TVS Supply Chain,
which counts Mahindra,
Daimler India Commercial
pg 10
"But overall, the bank
is expecting recovery of
about Rs 8,000 crore in
this whole financial
year," the lender said
during the call. This
includes the amount
recovered from tribunal
resolved cases, as the
bank will "not be differ-
entiating between NCLT"
resolved cases in terms
of recovery from writ-
ten-off accounts.
The lender also
brought down its bad
loans proportion, with
the gross non-perform-
ing assets falling down to
4.5 per cent at end of
December 2021 from 4.9
per cent in the preceding
quarter, September 2021.
—PTI
failed, account classified
as NPA (non-performing
asset) in July 2016 with
back dated effect from
November 30, 2013. E&Y
was appointed as forensic
auditor by lenders during
April 2018 and they sub-
mitted their report in
January 2019. E&Y report
was placed before the
Fraud Identification
Committee of 18 lenders
in 2019. Fraud is mainly
attributed to diversion of
funds, misappropriation
and criminal breach of
trust," it said.
Though ICICI Bank was
the lead lender in the con-
sortium and IDBI was the
second lead, it was pre-
ferred that SBI being the
largest public sector bank,
lodges the complaint with
CBI, it said. —PTI
ANALYTICS
PLAYERS TAP
DIGITAL BOOM
RAVI RANJAN PRASAD
MUMBAI, FEB. 13
New age pure play analytic
companies are ramping up
operations due to the cur-
rent digital boom and
expected higher expendi-
ture by multinational com-
panies.
Latent View Analytics
raised Rs 600 crore from
the primary market last
year in a highly successful
fund raising exercise, as
the IPO was subscribed
over 326 times.
Another Mumbai-based
company, Course 5
Intelligence, with several
Fortune 500 companies,
including Lenovo as
clients, is now gearing to
raise around Rs 300 crore
from the primary market.
Data & analytics spend-
ing is expected to witness
robust growth driven by
increased adoption of
next-generation advanced
analytics applications.
While the market for data
and analytics was around
$174 billion in 2020, it is
expected to grow at a
CAGR of 17.6 per cent to
$333 bn by 2024. The total
pure play analytics servic-
es market is expected to hit
$9.7 bn in 2024.
Vehicles, Sony India and
Hyundai Motor India
among its customers in
India, has a presence in the
UK, Spain, Germany,
Australia and Singapore.
Direct spending in the
Indian logistics market is
estimated to double to $365
billion by the year to
March 2026, the firm said
in its draft prospectus.
Delhivery Ltd, another
logistics firm, received
Sebi’s approval last month
for an initial share sale to
raise as much as Rs 7,460
crore. —Bloomberg
 GAMES
DECCAN CHRONICLE | COIMBATORE | MONDAY | 14 FEBRUARY 2022
pg 11

LIAM KING
SHORT TAKES HOW THEY STACK UP
Oz edge Lanka in MUMBAI INDIANS
Purse spent: `89.90 cr.
SUNRISERS
HYDERABAD
super over drama Purse available: `0.10 cr.
Sanjay Yadav 50 lakh
Purse spent: `89.90 cr.
Purse available: `0.10 cr.
Sydney, Australia: Australia Dewald Brevis 3 cr Priyam Garg 20 lakh
scraped past Sri Lanka to take Ramandeep Singh 20 lakh Abhishek Sharma 6.5 cr
control of their five-match Mayank Markande 65 lakh Kartik Tyagi 4 cr
Twenty20 series Sunday after Aryan Juyal 20 lakh ★ Abdul Samad 4 cr
late fireworks from the visitors Arjun Tendulkar 30 lakh Saurabh Dubey 20 lakh
forced their second clash in Tilak Varma 1.7 cr ★ Umran Malik 4 cr
Sydney to a rare super over
after it ended in a tie.
Sri Lanka captain Dasun
PUNJAB SPLASH CASH TO BUY ENGLAND’S Hrithik Shokeen 20 lakh
Rahul Buddhi 20 lakh
Arshad Khan 20 lakh
★ Kane Williamson 14 cr
Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4.2 cr

LIVINGSTONE FOR STAGGERING `11.50 CR

Shreyas Gopal 75 lakh
Shanaka won the toss and ★ Kieron Pollard 6 cr Shashank Singh 20 lakh
bowled for the second game in ★ Rohit Sharma 16 cr Sean Abbott 2.4 cr
a row, despite his side strug- Jaydev Unadkat 1.3 cr Rahul Tripathi 8.5 cr
gling in the run chase during ★ Suryakumar Yadav 8 cr R Samarth 20 lakh
their 20-run defeat in the first Tymal Mills 1.5 cr
PLAYERS OVERSEAS TOTAL SPENT J Suchith 20 lakh
clash of the series on Friday.
MOST M. Ashwin 1.6 cr

It appeared to be heading the
same way after Josh Inglis’ 48
spearheaded Australia to 164
for six, and the Sri Lankan top
order again failed to fire.
But Pathum Nissanka’s 73 and a
breezy 34 off 19 balls from
Shanaka sent the game to the
wire. With Marcus Stoinis bowl-
`5,51,70,00,000
Aiden Markram 2.6 cr
SOLD PLAYERS ★ Jasprit Bumrah 12 cr Nicholas Pooran 10.75 cr
EXPENSIVE Jofra Archer 8 cr Romario Shepherd 7.75 cr
204 67 PLAYER
ISHAN KISHAN
Fabian Allen 75 lakh
Ishan Kishan 15.25 cr
Basil Thampi 30 lakh
Daniel Sams 2.6 cr
Marco Jansen 4.2 cr
Washington Sundar 8.75 cr
Vishnu Vinod 50 lakh
T Natarajan 4 cr
Bengaluru, Feb. 13: Having lost Kagiso Anmolpreet Singh 20 lakh Glenn Phillips 1.5 cr
Punjab Kings decided
to break the bank to
Rabada on the first day
to a rampaging Punjab
`15,25,00,000 Tim David 8.25 cr
Riley Meredith 1 cr
Fazalhaq Farooqi 50 lakh

ing, Sri Lanka needed 12 off the
last three balls to win. Maheesh
Theekshana hit a six, then a sin-
gle before Dushmantha
Chameera smacked a four to tie
the match and send it into a
nail-biting super over. — AFP
Brief scores: Australia 164/6 in 20
ovs (Josh Inglis 48, Dushmantha
Chameera 2/30, Maheesh
Theekshana 2/33) tied with Sri
Lanka 164/8 in 20 ovs (Pathum
Nissanka 73, Dasun Shanaka 34,
Josh Hazlewood 3/22). Australia win
the Super Over.
Arif finishes 45th
in Winter Games
Beijing: India’s lone participant
in the Winter Olympics, alpine
skier Arif Khan, finished 45th in
the giant slalom event here on
Sunday. The 31-year-old from
Baramulla district in Jammu
and Kashmir clocked a com-
bined time of 2 minute 47.24
seconds from two races in diffi-
cult weather conditions.
Khan, who was making his
Winter Olympics debut, ended
at 53rd in Race 1 with a time of
1:22.35 out of the 54 competi-
tors who could finish it. As
many as 33 skiers could not fin-
ish Race 1 while two did not
start. Khan queued up 85th in
the start list of 89 athletes from
62 nations.
Khan did better in Race 2 as he
clocked 1:24.89, ending at 44th
out of 45 skiers who could
complete it. Nine skiers failed
to finish Race 2. His combined
time, which saw him finish 45th
overall, was 37.89 seconds
behind gold winner Marco
Odermatt of Switzerland, who
clocked a combined time of
2:09.35. — PTI
Havertz hands
Chelsea Club WC
Abu Dhabi, UAE: Kai Havertz
scored a penalty deep into
extra time as Chelsea defeated
Brazil’s Palmeiras 2-1 in the
Club World Cup final on
Saturday to complete their col-
lection of major trophies.
Romelu Lukaku’s superb header
gave the European champions
the lead on 54 minutes but
Raphael Veiga levelled from the
spot for the Copa Libertadores
winners just past the hour here.
Havertz, the hero in the
Champions League final against
Manchester City, was Chelsea’s
match-winner again as he con-
verted a penalty on 117 minutes
awarded following a VAR
review.
“It’s amazing. After champions
of Europe, we are now champi-
sign England’s T20 spe- Kings, Delhi invested RAJASTHAN ROYALS
cialist Liam `5.25 crore on Khaleel DELHI CAPITALS Purse spent: `89.05 cr.
Livingstone, paying a Ahmed, who is known Purse spent: `89.90cr. Purse available: `0.95 cr.
staggering `11.50 crore to leak runs in slog OTHER BIG BUYS Purse available: `0.10 cr. Riyan Parag 3.8 cr
for him while Mumbai overs and `4.20 crore on ★ Prithvi Shaw 7.5cr Tejas Baroka 20 lakh
Indians, purely based left-armer Sakariya Deepak Chahar Kamlesh Nagarkoti 1.1 cr Devdutt Padikkal 7.75 lakh
on leap of faith, paid a who pace is limited to (CSK) `14 cr Chetan Sakariya 4.2 cr ★ Yashasvi Jaiswal 4 cr
whopping `8 crore for 130s. Ripal Patel 20 lakh Anunay Singh 20 lakh
The duo cumulatively Shreyas Iyer (KKR) Yash Dhull 50 lakh
an injured Jofra Archer Kuldeep Sen 20 lakh
cost them `9.45 crore `12.25 cr Vicky Ostwal 20 lakh
despite his unavailabil- Dhruv Jurel 20 lakh
David Warner 6.25 cr
ity for the 2022 edition which is more than Liam Livingstone Kuldip Yadav 20 lakh
of the IPL. what Punjab paid for (PK) `11.50 cr Mitchell Marsh 6.5 cr Shubham Garhwal 20 lakh
The teams went big on Rabada. Mustafizur Rahman 2 cr Nathan Coulter-Nile 2 cr
current India players Similarly for Mumbai Shardul Thakur Mandeep Singh 1.1 cr R Ashwin 5 cr
and largely based their Indians, Tymal Mills (Delhi Capitals) Shardul Thakur 10.75 cr Trent Boult 8 cr
decision on the form despite his T20 exploits, `10.75 cr ★ Anrich Nortje 6.5 cr ★ Jos Buttler 10 cr
players from overseas
with more focus on fast
has been a big flop in
Indian conditions as he Harshal Patel (RCB)
KS Bharat 2 cr
Lungi Ngidi 50 lakh
Rassie van der Dussen 1 cr
James Neesham 1.5 cr
`10.75 cr
bowlers, not caring
about reputations as
gets ready to partner
Jasprit Bumrah and Wanindu Hasaranga
★ Axar Patel 9 cr
Kuldeep Yadav 2 cr
Daryl Mitchell 75 lakh
Karun Nair 1.4 cr
the likes of Steve Daniel Sims in absence (RCB) `10.75 cr Tim Seifert 50 lakh ★ Sanju Samson 14 cr
Smith, Aaron Finch, of Archer for the year. Sarfaraz Khan 20 lakh Yuzvendra Chahal 6.5 cr
Suresh Raina, Ishant “So happy to have got Nicholas Pooran Praveen Dubey 50 lakh Shimron Hetmyer 8.5 cr
Sharma found out. him (Archer). So happy (SRH) `10.75 cr Ashwin Hebbar 20 lakh Navdeep Saini 2.6 cr
The two-day IPL auc- to have Jof and Boom Rovman Powell 2.8 cr KC Cariappa 30 lakh
England all-rrounder Lockie Ferguson Lalit Yadav 65 lakh McCoy 75 lakh
tion ended on Sunday making a lethal bowl-
ing attack although Liam Livingstone. (GT) `10 cr ★ Rishabh Pant 16 cr Prasidh Krishna 10 cr
with Sunrisers
Hyderabad and Punjab next year,” MI owner Khaleel Ahmed 5.25 cr
Prasidh Krishna (RR)
Kings predictably mak- Akash Ambani con- `10 cr PUNJAB KINGS
ing the hefty pay-outs firmed that Archer CHENNAI SUPER KINGS Purse spent: `86.55 cr.
with bigger purses in indeed won’t play this Avesh Khan (LSG) Purse spent: `87.05 cr. Purse available: `3.45 cr.
store while Mumbai edition. `10 cr Purse available: `2.95 cr. Rahul Chahar 5.25 cr
Indians and Delhi MI are looking at N. Jagadeesan 20 lakh Atharva Taide 20 lakh
Capitals now look for- Archer being one of Hari Nishaanth 20 lakh ★ Arshdeep Singh 4 cr
midable on batting their legends in the Subhranshu Senapati 20 lakh Prabhsimran Singh 60 lakh
front but slightly short space vacated by Lasith Liam Livingstone ★ Ruturaj Gaikwad 6 cr Harpreet Brar 3.8 cr
in bowling arsenal. Malinga and stay on for was the breakout KM Asif 20 lakh Vaibhav Arora 2 cr
Having roped in the next five to six star of the inaugural Mukesh Choudhary 20 lakh Ansh Patel 20 lakh
Livingstone, Punjab years and are ready to edition of the Maheesh Theekshana 70 lakh Raj Angad Bawa 2 cr
Kings also used its deep sacrifice one year. Hundred, taking Simarjeet Singh 20 lakh Benny Howell 40 lakh
pockets to pick up West But Mumbai Indians’ Birmingham Phoenix Rajvardhan Hangargekar 1.5 cr Shikhar Dhawan 8.25 cr
Indies all-rounder x-factor player certain- to the final. He Bhagath Varma 20 lakh Rishi Dhawan 55 lakh
Odean Smith for `6.5 ly was Singapore inter- played a series of Prashant Solanki 1.2 cr Jonny Bairstow 6.75 cr
crore. He was impres- national of Australian spectacular innings ★ Ravindra Jadeja 16 cr Bhanuka Rajapaksa 50 lakh
sive in the recently con- origin, Tim David who to finish as the ★ MS Dhoni 12 cr ★ Mayank Agarwal 12 cr
cluded ODI series was bought for Rs 8 competition’s Chris Jordan 3.6 cr Liam Livingstone 11.50 cr
against India. crore. leading run-scorer, Dwaine Pretorius 50 lakh Sandeep Sharma 50 lakh
Sunrisers weren’t David, who has played leading six-hitter and Ambati Rayudu 6.75 cr Baltej Singh 20 lakh
going to be left behind for RCB, is an all- MVP. Robin Uthappa 2 cr Kagiso Rabada 9.25 cr
in bidding frenzy, rop- rounder but known Devon Conway 1 cr Writtick Chatterjee 20 lakh
ing in CPL sensation more for his big-hitting Deepak Chahar 14 cr Shahrukh Khan 9 cr
from the West Indies abilities. He produced Adam Milne 1.9 cr Jitesh Sharma 20 lakh
Romario Shepherd for 19 sixes in seven games Mitchell Santner 1.9 cr Odean Smith 600 cr
`7.75 crore based on his
all-round skills.
for Multan Sultans in
Pakistan Super League. Jonny Bairstow and
Dwayne Bravo 4.4 cr
Shivam Dube 4 cr
Nathan Ellis 75 lakh
Prerak Mankad 20 lakh
DELHI BOLSTER
“Tim David is going to
partner Kieron Pollard
Liam Livingstone
play together for the
Tushar Deshpande 20 lakh
★ Moeen Ali 8 cr
Ishan Porel 25 lakh
THEIR BATTING at number 5 and 6. same team and they GUJARAT TITANS
Delhi's bowling attack Fortunately, he got a will probably play KOLKATA KNIGHT Purse spent: `89.85 cr.
where Anrich Nortje spell at RCB last year. the same, or similar, RIDERS Purse available: `0.15 cr.
will be partnered by so he has got experi- roles for us. Purse spent: `89.55cr. R Sai Kishore 3 cr
Shardul Thakur, ence of IPL.” — Anil Kumble Purse available: `0.45 cr. ● Shubman Gill 8 cr
Khaleel Ahmed, Chetan Lucknow has best Punjab Kings coach Anukul Roy 20 lakh Darshan Nalkande 20 lakh
Sakariya and Kuldeep first XI but not so great Shivam Mavi 7.25 cr Sai Sudharsan 20 lakh
Yadav doesn’t inspire back-up. Abhijeet Tomar 40 lakh Yash Dayal 3.2 cr
highest confidence. — PTI Pratham Singh 20 lakh Noor Ahmad 30 lakh
★ Varun Chakravarthy 8 cr Matthew Wade 2.4 cr
Pradeep Sangwan 20 lakh
UNSOLD Rasikh Salam 20 lakh
Aman Khan 20 lakh Wriddhiman Saha 1.9 cr
Ramesh Kumar 20 lakh Jason Roy 2 cr
● Eoin Morgan (1.5 crore) ● Steven Smith (2 crore) ● Suresh Raina (2 crore) ● Amit Mishra (1.5 crore) ● Adam Zampa Ashok Sharma 55 lakh David Miller 3 cr
(2 crore) ● Imran Tahir (2 crore) ● Mujeeb Ur Rahman (2 crore) ● Adil Rashid (2 crore) ● Shakib Al Hasan (2 crore) ● ★ Sunil Narine 6 cr Varun Aaron 50 lakh
Tabraiz Shamsi (1 crore) ● Sheldon Cottrell (75 lakh) ● Ishant Sharma (1.5 crore) ● Cheteshwar Pujara (50 lakh) ● Aaron Tim Southee 1.5 cr Rahul Tewatia 9 cr
Sheldon Jackson 60 lakh Jayant Yadav 1.7 cr
Finch (1.5 crore) ● Saurabh Tiwary (50 lakh) ● Marnus Labuschagne (1 crore) ● Dawid Malan (1.5 crore). Vijay Shankar 1.4 cr
Alex Hales 1.5 cr
Note: Base price in bracket ★ Mohammad Nabi 1 cr Mohammed Shami 6.25 cr
Andre Russell 12 cr Lockie Ferguson 10 cr
Ajinkya Rahane 1 cr Gurkeerat Singh Mann 50 lakh
Sam Billings 2 cr ● Hardik Pandya 15 cr

Super Kings bid

ons of the world. It sounds bet- Umesh Yadav 2 cr Alzarri Joseph 2.4 cr
ter,” Havertz told Channel 4. Baba Indrajith 20 lakh Abhinav Manohar 2.6 cr
“I was nervous (taking the Pat Cummins 7.25 cr ● Rashid Khan 15 cr
penalty), I have to be honest. Nitish Rana 8 cr Dominic Drakes 1.1 cr

It’s a big penalty. It’s just crazy.
It was good I kept the nerves. I
am very happy. I dreamed
always as a kid of this. This is
an amazing feeling for me,” he
added. — AFP
Liverpool close
gap on Man City
London: Liverpool kept the
pressure on Premier League
leaders Manchester City as
Fabinho sealed a 1-0 win over
Burnley, while Tottenham’s top
four bid suffered a fresh blow in
a 2-0 loss to Wolves on Sunday.
Fabinho struck late in the first
half at windswept Turf Moor to
give Liverpool their fourth suc-
farewell to Raina
Chamika Karunaratne 50 lakh
Shreyas Iyer 12.25 cr LUCKNOW SUPER
Rinku Singh 55 lakh GIANTS
★ Venkatesh Iyer 8 cr Purse spent: `90.00 cr.
Bengaluru, Feb. 13: The Purse available: 0
IPL 2022 auction marked ROYAL CHALLENGERS Mohsin Khan 20 lakh
an end to an era as Suresh BANGALORE Ayush Badoni 20 lakh
Raina went unsold during Purse spent: `88.45 cr. ● Ravi Bishnoi 4 cr
the two-day event. Known
as Mr. IPL, Raina went
Purse available: `1.55 cr.
Suyash Prabhudessai 30 lakh
Karan Sharma 20 lakh
Mayank Yadav 20 lakh
unsold on day 1 of the pro-
ceedings and his name
Anuj Rawat 3.4 cr
Luvnith Sisodia 20 lakh
Manish Pandey 4.6 cr
Shahbaz Nadeem 50 lakh
wasn’t announced on the Shahbaz Ahmed 2.4 cr ● Marcus Stoinis 9.2 cr
second day as none of the Akash Deep 20 lakh Kyle Mayers 50 lakh
IPL auctioneers Hugh Edmeades (left) and Charu Sharma pose after the auction franchises shortlisted him Aneeshwar Gautam 20 lakh Mark Wood 7.5 cr
on Sunday. — Twitter for the accelerated process. ★ Virat Kohli 15 cr Quinton de Kock 6.75 cr
Once the league’s highest Jason Behrendorff 75 lakh Jason Holder 8.75 cr
run-scorer, Raina also held Josh Hazlewood 7.75 cr ● KL Rahul 17 cr
Fit-again Hugh returns the record of being the
most capped player before
the start of IPL 2020. As
Raina went unsold, CSK
Suresh Raina
Dinesh Karthik 5.5 cr
Karn Sharma 50 lakh
David Willey 2 cr
★ Glenn Maxwell 11 cr
K Gowtham 90 lakh
Evin Lewis 2 cr
Krunal Pandya 8.25 cr
Deepak Hooda 5.75 cr

for final hour of auction

cessive league victory.
Liverpool are nine points
behind City with one game in
hand as the Reds refuse to let
the title race become a pro-
longed coronation for Pep
Guardiola’s men. City made it
14 wins from their last 15 league
games on Saturday as Raheem
Sterling’s hat-trick inspired a 4-
0 win at lowly Norwich. But
Guardiola is convinced
Liverpool will push the champi-
ons all the way to the finish line
and the way they ground out a
hard-fought success against
bottom of the table Burnley
suggests he is right not to
count them out. “It is nine
points and then it is 12 points
because most of the time City
play before us. That is why we
don’t think about the title race,”
Jurgen Klopp said.— AFP
Bengaluru, Feb. 13: It
was a poignant moment
when a room full of peo-
ple gave a standing ova-
tion to veteran auction-
eer Hugh Edmeades, who
conducted the final hour
of the IPL auction after a
massive health scare on
the opening day.
Edmeades, a veteran of
more than 2700 plus auc-
tions across the globe,
collapsed inside the auc-
tion room here on
Saturday while conduct-
ing the bidding involving
Sri Lankan leg-spinner
Wanindu Hasaranga.
He was immediately
given medical attention who also got his round of
and it was due to "postur- applause before he jok-
al hypotension" (a case of ingly said that the BCCI
low BP) that he had col- would do well to put a
lapsed. fence on the podium,
The BCCI summoned which would have proba-
62-year-old veteran TV bly stopped him from
presenter Charu
Sharma, who rushed in
falling down. “I am sorry
that I can't be in person
to fill for Edmeades and with you today. As you
did a commendable job. can see, I’m absolutely
Before the final hour, fine but I wasn’t going to
Sharma handed the auc- be able to give 100 per
tion gavel back to its cent performance today,
rightful owner which will be unfair to
Edmeades, who strode in the BCCI, the IPL, the
nattily dressed in sharp bidders and most impor-
suit as all teams stood up tantly the players,”
in admiration. Edmeades said earlier.
He thanked Sharma, — PTI
paid a tribute to their for-
mer vice-captain. The
Yellow Army took to
Twitter and thanked its
Chinna Thala.
Raina, who had joined
CSK in the IPL 2008 auc-
tion, had a dream run dur-
ing his CSK stint. He
scored 421 runs in 2008 and
followed up with 434 runs.
He piled up 520 runs in 2010
and 438 runs in 2011 as the
MS Dhoni-led side lifted
the title. The left-handed
batsman hit 441 runs in
2012, 548 runs in 2013, 523
runs in 2014 and 374 runs
in 2015.
Raina captained Gujarat
Lions in IPL 2016 and 2017.
He played a key role in
CSK’s title-winning run in
2018 and scored 445 runs.
In 2019, he finished with
383 runs.
CSK spent heavily
(around `4 crore) on big-
hitting batting all-rounder
Shivam Dube but got New
Zealander Devon Conway
for a steal amount of `1
crore base price and little
known Sri Lankan spinner
Mahesh Theeksana.
They have their core in
place and Dhoni will per-
haps depend on Adam
Milne to do the job along-
side Deepak Chahar,
Dwayne Bravo and
Ravindra Jadeja.
It would be interesting to
note if Dhoni invests his
time on young U-19 pacer
Rajvardhan Hangargekar
and builds him as one for
the future. — Agencies
Siddarth Kaul 75 lakh Manan Vohra 20 lakh
Harshal Patel 10.75 cr Dushmantha Chameera 2 cr
Faf du Plessis 7 cr Ankit Rajpoot 50 lakh
Chama Milind 25 lakh Avesh Khan 10 cr
Wanindu Hasaranga 10.75 cr
Mahipal Lomror 95 lakh ● Pre-auction picks.
Sherfane Rutherford 1 cr ★ Retained players.
★ Mohammed Siraj 7 cr Out of 204 players bought, 107
Finn Allen 80 lakh were capped and 97 uncapped.
BONANZA FOR U-19 STARS
● Allrounder Raj Bawa, player of the match in
the U-19 World Cup final against England, found
a lot of interest. Punjab Kings signed him for
`2 crore. ● Pacer Rajvardhan Hangargekar went
to Super Kings for `1.5 crore. India captain Yash
Dhull went to Capitals for `50 lakh and Vicky
Ostwal (`20 lakh) joined him in Delhi.
 GAMES
DECCAN CHRONICLE | COIMBATORE | MONDAY | 14 FEBRUARY 2022
pg 12

T20 POWERHOUSE Mumbai drub

INDIAN SUPER | LEAGUE
SHORT TAKES
Afridi bids adieu
to PSL career
Fourteen TN players to feature in IPL 2022
Odisha FC 4-1
Lahore: Flamboyant former
Pakistan all-rounder Shahid
Afridi has called time on his
Pakistan Super League (PSL) DC CORRESPONDENT
career due to a persistent back CHENNAI, FEB. 13
problem, ending a seven-year Goa, Feb. 13: A command- box by the Odisha defend-
association with the event. The As many as 14 Tamil Nadu ing display from Mumbai ers, who met Rahul
41-year-old cricketer said that players will feature in the City FC saw them secure a Bheke’s cross and slotted
he took part in this season’s 2022 edition of the Indian 4-1 win over Odisha FC in his header past the goal-
PSL only for the sake of fans. Premier League . Out of 30 the Indian Super League keeper with ease. Victor
“I was trying to sign off on a TN players who had regis- at the PJN Stadium in Mongil came close to scor-
good note; my lower-back tered for the auction, 17 of Fatorda. ing the equaliser but his
injury has been there for 15-16 them went unsold. A brace each from Igor header from a corner went
years, and I have been playing Tamil Nadu skipper Angulo (41’, 70’) and Bipin off-target, to the disap-
with it. But now it has become Vijay Shankar, all-rounder Singh (47’, 73’) was enough pointment of his head
so much that it has affected my Sanjay Yadav, Baba to cancel Jonathas’ (90+1’) coach on the sidelines.
groin, my knee and it goes Indrajith and Sai goal and secure three Despite OFC’s best efforts,
down to extreme pain in my Sudharsan found bidders points that lift the club to MCFC maintained their
toes,” Afridi said in a social on the second day of the the fourth position on the advantage heading into the
media message Afridi, who auction. table. halftime break.
began his career in internation- Shankar with a base On the other hand, the The second half began on
al cricket with a then fastest 37- price of `50 lakh was sold Kalinga Warriors are left a terrible note for Odisha
ball hundred, looked in pain at for `1.4 crore. Gujarat licking their wounds as as they conceded the sec-
times but took three wickets in Titans made the opening they remain stuck in sev- ond goal, this time through
three PSL games for Quetta bid and were in a short enth place. Bipin Singh. The winger
Gladiators. “I tried to cope with tussle with Chennai Super MCFC was denied two was fed by Ahmed Jahouh
it but can’t tolerate the pain Kings. TN’s emerging star shouts for a penalty early and managed to find the
anymore. After all, when you Sudharsan who didn’t find in the match as they back of the net from an
have good health, you have the any taker in the early pushed for the opening extremely tight angle.
world with you. I will go back round was later bought by goal. Both teams The scorers Bipin and
and undergo rehabilitation on Titans for the base price of exchanged blows back and Igor combined again at the
my fitness. There is cricket `20 lakh. forth until the half-hour stroke of the 70th minute
coming up... So I will soon Shankar and Sudharsan Tamil Nadu mark, looking for the open- to add a third goal. Scoring
return in front of my fans will join their TN team- ing goal. his second, Angulo weaved
again,” he added. Quetta is mate Sai Kishore, who skipper Vijay Jerry Mawihmingthanga past a couple of defenders
Afridi’s fourth PSL franchise. He was picked by Gujarat for Shankar with a came extremely close to and calmly put his left-foot-
has also played for Multan a price of `3 cr on Day 1. base price of `50 opening the scoring but ed shot in the bottom right
Sultans, Karachi Kings and Indrajith, who has listed lakh was sold for Mandar Dessai denied him corner.
Peshawar Zalmi. Afridi took 47 himself as keeper-batter, `1.4 crore to with a last-ditch clearance Then, Bipin Singh scored
wickets at an average of 26.51 has finally got a well- right after the drinks his second from close
Gujarat Titans. range barely two minutes
in his PSL career, besides scor- deserved IPL contract. break.
ing 459 runs at a strike rate of Kolkata Knight Riders However, it was the later following brilliant
150.8. — PTI snapped him up for his Islanders that broke the work from Cassio Gabriel
base price of `20 lakh. deadlock through Igor on the left flank who
Knight Riders have anoth- Angulo. The Spaniard was served the ball on a platter.
Ostwal, Tambe in er TN star in their squad
— C. Varun Chakravarthy,
left unmarked inside the — Agencies

Maha Ranji squad who was retained ahead of

the auction.
`50 lakh.
CSK retained their for-
Nishaanth.
Earlier on Day 1, R. TN PLAYERS IN IPL 2022
Pune: Two members of India’s Sanjay, who has been mer players, keeper-batter Ashwin was sold to S.No Name Team Amount
U-19 World Cup winning squad, performing exceedingly N. Jagadeesan and opener Rajasthan Royals for;
left-arm spinner Vicky Ostwal well in the domestic cir- C. Hari Nishaanth at their Washington Sundar and T. 1. R. Ashwin RR 5 cr
and all-rounder Kaushal Tambe cuit, will turn out for base price of `20 lakh. Natarajan to SRH. M. 2. Washington Sundar SRH 8.75 cr
have made it to the Mumbai Indians. Starting “I am so happy and excit- Shahrukh Khan was
Maharashtra Ranji Trophy with a base price of `20 ed to be back with the CSK bought back by Punjab for 3. Dinesh Karthik RCB 5.5 cr
squad. lakh, the all-rounder family. Thanks to the man- a whopping `9 crores and
The Maharashtra senior selec- attracted the likes of agement for having faith M. Ashwin was taken by 4. T. Natarajan SRH 4 cr
tion committee reposed its Punjab Kings, who pulled in me. I’m looking forward Mumbai Indians for `1.6 5. Hari Nishaanth CSK 20 lakh
faith on Ostwal, one of the out after the price touched to this season,” said crore.
most successful bowlers in the 6. M. Shahrukh Khan PBKS 9 cr
U-19 tournament held in the 7. N. Jagadeesan CSK 20 lakh
Caribbean and Kaushal Tambe,
an off-spinner and an aggres- 8. M. Ashwin MI 1.6 cr
sive batter, known to finish 9. R. Sai Kishore GT 3 cr
matches. Ostwal hails from the
picturesque hill-station of 10. Vijay Shankar GT 1.4 cr
Lonavala and then settled on
the outskirts of Pune, while
11. Sanjay Yadav MI 50 lakh
Tambe, a son of a senior police 12. B. Indrajith KKR 20 lakh
officer, hails from Pune itself. Mumbai City FC’s Igor Angulo (centre) celebrates with his
Maharashtra are placed in Elite 13. Sai Sudharsan GT 20 lakh teammates after scoring a goal against Odisha FC in their
Group G for the coveted 14. Varun Chakravarthy KKR Retained ISL match.
domestic tournament and will Baba Indrajith Sanjay Yadav Sai Sudharsan
play their league matches in

Shahan wins MRF F1600 title Blasters take on

Haryana from February 17.
The team will be led by sea-
soned campaigner Ankeet NATIONAL RACING
Bawane, while attacking top- RESULTS
order batter Rahul Tripathi will

worn out SCEB

(all 10 laps unless mentioned)
be his deputy. The Maharashtra
Cricket Association (MACA) MRF Formula 1600 (Race-2): 1.
said since Ruturaj Gaikwad has Rishon Rajeev (Bengaluru)
been selected for the T20 (19mins,11.167secs); 2. Shahan Ali
series against West Indies he Mohsin (Agra) (19:13.495); 3. Arya
won’t be available for the Singh (Kolkata) (19:15.714). Race-
league phase of Ranji Trophy. 3 (8 laps): 1. Rishon Rajeev
“Rajvardhan Hangargekar was (Bengaluru) (16:36.017); 2.
also selected but due to illness Shahan Ali Mohsin (16:36.781); 3.
of his mother, he won’t be par- Chirag Ghorpade (Bengaluru)
ticipating in the league phase,” (16:37.188). National champion:
MCA said in a statement. Shahan Ali Mohsin (Agra).
— PTI Indian Touring Cars (Race-2): 1.
Arjun Balu (Race Concepts,
Coimbatore) (19:03.534); 2.
Ukraine Oly team Ishaan Dodhiwala (Rayo Racing,
Hyderabad) (19:07.781); 3. Jeet
calls for peace Jhabakh (Rayo Racing,
Hyderabad) (19:12.281). National
Beijing: The Ukrainian Olympic champion: Arjun Balu (Race
team have followed the lead of Concepts, Coimbatore).
skeleton racer Vladyslav Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-
Heraskevych in calling for 2): 1. Varun Anekar (Race
peace. Heraskevych held up a Concepts, Bengaluru) (19:51.297);
sign with a Ukrainian flag and 2. Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala
the message “No War in (Performance Racing, Chennai)
Ukraine” after completing a run (20:34.450); 3. Raghul
in the skeleton competition on Rangasamy (Performance
Friday at the Beijing Games. Racing, Chennai) (20:34.620).
The message came against the National champion (Provisional):
backdrop of a Russian military Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala
build-up near the country’s bor- (Performance Racing).
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, FEB. 13
Agra teenager Shahan
Ali Mohsin won the
biggest prize of his blos-
soming career in the sen-
ior section as he annexed
the title in the premier
MRF F1600 category to
finish the MRF MMSC
fmsci Indian National
Car Racing
Championship 2021 on a
high at the MMRT, here
on Sunday.
Also annexing the
National titles in their
respective categories
were Bengaluru’s Tijil
Rao (Momentum
Motorsport) in the
Formula LGB 1300,
Arjun Balu (Race
Concepts) from
Coimbatore in the Indian
Touring Cars, Chennai’s
Deepak Ravikumar
(Performance Racing) in
Super Stock, Hatim
Shabbir Jamnagarwala
● Earlier, defending champion an’s searing pace was
evident as he clocked a
Coimbatore’s 47-year old Arjun Balu, best lap of one minute,
who made his racing debut in 1992, 50.076 seconds in the Vasco, Feb. 13: Kerala games after Monday.
ended the season on an emphatic note eighth of the 10-lap race. Blasters would look to For head coach Ivan
by completing a double to take his tally Meanwhile, two second bounce back from their Vukomanovic, his team’s
place finishes proved suf- last match defeat and earn set-piece woes would be a
to six wins in eight starts to win the ficient for Chennai’s all the three points against cause for concern given
championship in the ITC category. It Hatim Shabbir lowly SC East Bengal in the SCEB do score a lot from
was his 10th National title. Jamnagarwala to claim ISL here on Monday. them. Kerala may be with-
the title in the IJTC cate- For SCEB, it will be about out Ruivah Hormipam,
● The title in the Super Stock class gory, though, following a salvaging some pride after Harmanjot Khabra and
protest, the final out- being mathematically Marko Leskovic for the
was already pocketed by Deepak come is awaited. ruled out of the playoffs next game, all of whom are
Ravikumar on conclusion of the third
round last month. He finished this
The title in the Super
Stock class was already
race following a loss to
Odisha FC in their previ-
either injured, suspended
or not fully fit.
weekend with a second place and a pocketed by Deepak
Ravikumar on conclu-
ous engagement.
While SCEB will look to
Sitting 10th in the points
table with just 10 points to
win, his sixth of the season. sion of the third round play party poopers, for show for from 16 games,
last month. He finished Kerala, this game should SCEB will have nothing to
finish), to win the cham- champion Coimbatore’s this weekend with a sec- be the one to pick up three lose. They have just man-
pionship. In the final 47-year old Arjun Balu, ond place and a win, his points as they take on ATK aged to win one game so
race which he went in who made his racing sixth of the season. Mohun Bagan and far and head coach Mario
with a two-point advan- debut in 1992, ended the Tijil Rao, the 18-year Hyderabad FC, two teams Rivera will be eager to
tage, Shahan came in season on an emphatic old from Bengaluru, above them in the league change that statistic.
second behind note by completing played it smart and safe table, in the next two — PTI
Bengaluru’s Rishon a double to take his tally to finish second in a race
Rajeev, who thus com- to six wins in eight starts that was red-flagged
pleted a double, but cru- to win the championship twice and the number of
cially, ahead of another in the ITC category. It laps reduced to seven. NBA | LEAGUE
Bengalurean Chirag was his 10th National Prior to that, last year’s

der with Ukraine. “The Olympic
Team of Ukraine ... expresses a
unanimous call for peace
together with (our) native
country,’’ the Ukrainian Olympic
Committee wrote on social
media. “Being thousands of
kilometers away from the
Motherland, mentally we are
with our families and friends.’’
The statement doesn’t mention
Russia or the military situation.
The International Olympic
Committee bans most protest
gestures at the Games. But the
Olympic body isn’t taking
action against Heraskevych
because “‘No war’ is a message
we can all relate to,’’ said
Christophe Dubi, the executive
director of the Olympic Games.
That doesn’t mean the IOC
wants other athletes to join in,
however. “We all want peace,
clearly,’’ IOC spokesman Mark
Adams said. No Ukrainian ath-
letes have so far followed
Heraskevych’s lead by
protesting in competition.
— AP
Regd. No. TNENG/2010/35692
Printed & Published by K. Sudhakar on
behalf of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited
and Printed at Deccan Chronicle Press
situated at No 2/22, Sengalipalayam Road,
N.G.G.O Colony Post,
Kurudampalayam Village,
Coimbatore - 641 022. RNI
Registration No: TNENG/2010/35692
Ph No : 2231252,253,255,257 & 358
Editor: KAUSHIK MITTER
Super Stock (Race-2): 1. Deepak
Ravikumar (Performance Racing,
Chennai) (20:11.966); 2. RP Raja
Rajan (Performance
Racing, Chennai) (20:31.732); 3.
Suprej Venkat (Race Concepts,
Coimbatore) (20:47.678).
National champion: Deepak
Ravikumar (Performance Racing,
Chennai).
Formula LGB 1300 (Race-2, 7
laps): 1. Raghul Rangasamy
(MSport, Chennai) (13:36.695); 2.
Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsport,
Bengaluru) (13:37.163); 3. Deepak
Ravikumar (Momentum
Motorsport, Chennai) (13:41.072).
National champion: Tijil Rao
(Momentum Motorsport,
Bengaluru). Team Championship:
Momentum Motorsport.
Volkswagen Polo (Race-2): 1. Avik
Anwar (Bangladesh) (22:45.394);
2. Sourav Bandopadhyay (Thane)
(22:45.790); 3. Pratik Sonawane
(Pune) (22:46.397). Race-3 (8
laps): 1. Anmol Singh Sahil
(Ghaziabad) (15:49.022); 2. Oshan
Kothadiya (Pune) (15:55.239); 3.
Sai Sanjay TS (Salem) (15:55.929).
National Champion: Sandeep
Kumar (Chennai).
MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios)
Race-3: 1. Fahad Kutty (Redline
Racing, Mumbai) (16:44.973); 2.
Anand Prasad (Redline Racing,
Chennai) (16:45.559); 3. Justin
Singh (Redline Racing, New
Delhi) (16:50.139). National
champion: Fahad Kutty (Redline
Racing, Mumbai).
(Performance Racing),
also from Chennai, in
Indian Junior Touring
Cars, Sandeep Kumar
(Chennai) in Volkswagen
Polo and Mumbai’s
Fahad Kutty (Redline
Racing) in MRF Saloon
Cars (Toyota Etios).
Shahan, 17, survived a
roller-coaster season that
included a DNF (did not
The 2021 National Car racing champions (from left to right) Sandeep Kumar (Volkswagen Polo), Fahad Kutty
(MRF Saloon Cars), Arjun Balu (Indian Touring Cars), Shahan Ali Mohsin (MRF F1600), Tijil Rao (Formula LGB
1300), Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala (Indian Junior Touring Cars) and Deepak Ravikumar (Super Stock) are
flanked by FMSCI president Akbar Ebrahim (extreme left) and MMSC vice-president Vicky Chandhok (extreme
right) in the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship at the MMRT on Sunday.
Warriors clinch a
Ghorpade. title. winner Tijil displayed
The result meant that In the final race on amazing pace to move
Shahan, winner of the Sunday, Balu, starting from P12 at the start on
Asian Karting champi- third on the reverse grid the reverse grid to P1
onship in 2016, finished behind the Rayo Racing before tucking himself
on 194 points and four
wins, while Chirag
ended second on 189 (2
wins) and Rishon (172, 2
pair from Hyderabad,
Ishaan Dodhiwala and
Jeet Jhabakh, bided his
time before easing his
just behind the front-
runners to avoid close
racing. The experienced
Raghul Rangasamy
thriller vs Lakers
wins) was placed third in way to the front for a (MSport) won the race Los Angeles, Feb. 13: ing,” he said. “It was hard.
the championship. commanding win. ahead of Tijil and Klay Thompson scored 16 There were a lot of days in
Earlier, defending The Coimbatore veter- Deepak Ravikumar. of his season high 33 the squat rack. This makes
points in the final quarter it all worth it.”
and LeBron James missed James failed to take
a key free throw in the clos- advantage of three free
ing seconds as the Golden throws late that would
State Warriors edged the have tied the game and set
Los Angeles Lakers 117-115 the stage for overtime.
on Saturday. Behind 117-114, James —
Thompson hit a trio of who missed two of six free
late three pointers as the throws earlier — was
veteran finished five of fouled and went to the free
nine from beyond the arc throw line with two sec-
for the Warriors, who onds left.
snapped a two-game losing He missed the first of his
skid. three shots but made the
“That was fun,” said second, before intentional-
Thompson, who was play- ly hitting the rim on the
ing in just his 14th game third — however the
back after missing over Warriors got a piece of the
two years thanks to serious rebound and swatted it out
injuries. of harms way.
“No matter how many I Elsewhere, Anfernee
miss I always feel confident Simons drained a clutch
I will make the next one.” go-ahead three pointer
Thompson said he was with just over three min-
proud of his intensive utes left, as the Portland
rehab, which allowed him Trail Blazers roared back
to play at a high level from a 23-point deficit to
again. beat the New York Knicks
“I am not good at watch- 112-103.
ing. I have to keep work- — AFP